


Rescue

by Onenewphoenix



Series: Music in the Air [1]
Category: Royal Pains
Genre: Horis, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2018-10-23 01:55:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 384,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10709721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onenewphoenix/pseuds/Onenewphoenix
Summary: Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz is not well.Dr. Hank Lawson, his friend and doctor, tries to help.A character study in the importance of privacy and the treasure of true friendship.





	1. Rescue, Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first novella in a series called Music in the Air. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to make suggestions or offer corrections in both grammar, language and spelling. I greatly appreciate your time on my behalf. Namaste.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz is not well.  
> Dr. Hank Lawson, his friend and doctor, tries to help.  
> A character study in the importance of privacy and the treasure of true friendship.

...Boris is playing his beloved cello, in a room, on the top floor, near the center of the Shadow Pond house. It is somber music. His long, elegant hands give him extraordinary control over the instrument and the music emanating from it is sublime...

The melancholy strains of the music filter throughout the enormous house. Udo heard the music and sighed, feeling sad because His Master has not been well lately, especially that evening, and Udo is concerned for Him.

Hank, and everyone at the Guest House (there for a BBQ dinner party), began to hear the music as well. They organized and set off to locate the source of the sound. Hank said, with a great amount of worry as he ran after them, "Uh, listen, guys, we can’t just go exploring around Boris’ home like this! We don't have permission!” (He remembered the last time Evan got too nosey.) The group is on the hunt though, and they chatter away all at once, oblivious to Hank’s warning. He can only keep up with them and hope that he can intervene if things got weird.

They find the source of the music as they opened a door to the room where they find Boris, as he moved and swayed to the music over the cello, and he is obviously engrossed in it. He doesn’t realize that they have discovered him and are watching (with open mouths) this sad and passionate ‘performance’. For once, they are all silent and Hank whispered to himself, “This just got weird.”

Long hair disheveled, the sheen of sweat on his furrowed brow, Boris finished the music and bowed his head; he is weary now. Taking a deep breath, he slowly and stiffly stood up and used the cello between his legs as a guide; then, he suddenly sees his apprehensive audience.

With an uncharacteristic expression of surprise, Boris blinked quickly, looked at everyone – each individually, meeting their eyes – and then softly said in his unique Continental accent, “Oh, ja, eh, zis was rehearsal; show is at 8. Am I off schedule?”

All at once, the group started talking and Boris visibly flinched from the onslaught of sound. He is standing ramrod straight now, as if rooted to the Oriental rug beneath his feet. Eyes wide, his left hand has gripped the bow and his right hand clutched the upper neck of the cello. Hank’s sudden impression is that Boris looks like a trapped animal. 'This is not good,' Hank thought.

They have caught Boris at a most vulnerable moment, essentially ripping Boris’ sacred privacy from him. Hank is now very concerned as he has never seen Boris this way. And, Boris has also paled and is breathing heavily.

Hank, who is now standing in front of the group, raised his arms to his sides, turned his head and gave a forceful, “SHH!” The group is quiet again and Evan said, “Are we supposed to applaud at a rehearsal?” 

Hank admonished, “Evan, shut up!”

Hank turned his head back towards Boris ad met his gaze, but it is Hank who doesn’t blink, “Boris, we apologize for intruding” Hank then brought his hands forward at waist height and palms down with the hope to calm Boris. Boris lowered his gaze to the floor for a long moment, as if resigning. 

Speaking to the group now, Hank quietly said, “No one is watching the BBQ grill, maybe ALL of you should go…and…do…that…now,” And then turned his head back to face Boris, who is now staring off into a corner of the room, and still has not moved. Hank gently offered, “Again, Boris, we apologize for barging in like this. It became a scavenger hunt to find where the music was coming from.”

Hank exclaimed, “Uh, people. BBQ? NOW!” But Hank immediately regretted the extra emphasis he used on the word: 'now', because it made Boris flinch again. Hank felt horrible; so he turned around and herded everyone out of the room and closed the door silently behind them. What had started out to be a fun game for them, turned into Boris being humiliated and invaded. 'This has to be emotionally expensive for Boris,' Hank thought, as he knew how much privacy was coveted by Boris, and then he saw something else (to Hank’s medically trained eye) that increased Hank’s concern: a drawn, hollow look on Boris’ face.

With everyone now gone, except the two of them in the large, sparsely furnished, dark wood paneled room, Boris attempted to compose himself. His breathing slowed and his weary expression was tinged with sadness. Hank took three smooth steps forward. Boris' shoulders then lowered and his posture softened slightly; Boris eased his hold on the cello and bow, and took a step to his right to place them carefully in the stand; he caressed the scroll gently with his long fingers.

Hank took several more steps closer to Boris and tried to appear calm. As he did, Hank saw that his friend, indeed, did not look completely well.

Speaking softly, looking down at the instrument, his European accent more pronounced than usual, Boris asked, “Did za music sound good?”

With gentle sincerity, Hank replied, “Boris, the music sounded magnificent.” 

Heels together, Boris accepted the praise as a maestro would, and placed his left hand on his heart; he bowed slightly and formally from the waist and said, “Danke. Zis room has the best acoustics,” Boris looked around the room with fondness, “I sometimes play too loudly. Udo thinks I shall break ze instrument one day.”

With the hope to engage him in further conversation, as it appeared to calm Boris, Hank asked, “What is the name of the piece you were playing?”

Looking down again at the cello, Boris replied, “That was Cello Concerto # 1 by Shostokovich,” A pause, “You know, he wrote ze work for his friend, Mstislav Rostropovich, whom then committed it to memory in only four days and premiered performing it with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra in 1959.”

Nodding and smiling at the wonder that Boris’ knowledge of things was far more vast than Hank could imagine (and not wanting to make Boris feel any more sad that he already appeared), but still having the need to better understand his friend (and his patient) at the moment, Hank asked, “Why were you playing music that sounded so, um, sad?”

With a sigh, Boris replied, “Ah, I saw something in my office earlier today,“ A long pause, “Or rather the lack of something, zat reminded me of,” Another pause, “Dima. I felt I needed to play a Shostakovich piece for him...eh, for his memory, this evening.”

Hank had moved very near to Boris now and saw that Boris was a bit less tense. 

Boris continued, “Dima and I used to argue over who was ze better Russian composer. Dima favored Shostakovich and I have always preferred Rachmaninoff.”

Looking at Hank, and then again at the cello, Boris’ elegant hand moved with continued fondness across the top of the scroll as he said, “This cello is The Duport Stratavarius; it was created in 1711 by luthiers in Italy. It was formerly played by Mslislav Rostropovich. I purchased it partly to draznit’, er, I mean, to tease Dima, and because I had read about the instrument’s immense sound, or what some would say, soul. I used to deliberately play Rachmaninoff on it to further annoy Dima. He would shout in Russian, "Koshchunstvo!" or, um, how do you say, oh yes, "Sacrilege!" when I did this. It was quite amusing.”

Hank suggested, “Maybe one day, you could play a Rachmaninoff piece for me? I would like to hear the difference between the two composers.”

Looking up from the cello and sideways at Hank, Boris gave Hank an ever-so-slight smile and quietly said, “It would be my pleasure.” 

Hank thought he saw a glint of happiness in the other man’s eyes, even shining through the weary, lined face.

Taking a deep breath, Boris said haltingly, “It seems zat you are already engaged in a gathering...however, would you consider joining me, now, on my private terrace, eh, for a port and cigars?”

Hank saw the unusual and nearly desperate hope in Boris’ eyes. 

Wishing to further entice Hank, Boris offered, “I can also have Chef Henri prepare us both a fine dinner, as I do not want you to go hungry.” 

,p>Hank smiled and without hesitation said, “Yes, Boris, I’d love to do all of that,” Hank instinctively knew that Boris needed companionship that evening, and he felt compelled to help his friend. He would deal with Evan and the others later.

Visibly relieved at Hank’s acceptance, Boris actually grinned. His movements slow, Boris then held out his hand and motioned to a door way to the side of them and said, “Zis way, bitte.” 

They walked a few steps to a bureau where Boris picked up a vintage Dunhill, birds-eye burl walnut humidor and passed it to Hank to hold. Looking in the mirror at bureau, Boris saw his reflection with surprise and quickly ran his long fingers through his unkempt hair in an attempt to style it, “Why did you not tell me, Hank, that I look like a wild animal?”

“Um…” Hank just couldn’t bring himself to tell Boris, ‘Because to me you look like a trapped animal, Boris.’ It just didn’t seem to be the right thing to say at the moment. Hank shrugged and put on his best ‘oops’ expression and then hoped that Boris wouldn’t really expect an answer.

Still looking in the mirror, Boris said, “My music teacher used to say that ze messier your hair became whilst you played, ze better your music would be. He likened it to making love; it should have both elements of intense passion and absolute control.” 

Hank was at a loss for words at this point, and all he could manage was, “Um, yeah, sure,” Hank clutched the humidor and hoped he wouldn't drop it.

They continued to the doorway where Boris held the door open for Hank to walk through. Outside now, in a quaint, and very private, rooftop area open to the fresh air, was a whitewashed terrace with two ivory cushioned, ivory-toned chairs, an intricately inlaid, Asian motif, ivory-toned table and matching cabinet; there were also three, twelve-inch tall bonsai trees in ivory-toned pottery set in a neat row on an ivory marble block and an ash tray of the same stone. There was a sweeping view of the endless rolling green hills of the Shadow Pond estate. The only colors to be seen were soothing green and ivory. 

“Wow!” exclaimed Hank. 

Boris took the humidor from Hank and motioned for him to be seated. Boris placed the humidor on the table and went to the cabinet. He opened the doors and poured two snifters of port for them.

“This terrace is so different from the way the rest of your house is decorated, Boris.” Hank said. 

“Different?” Boris asked. 

Hank continued, “Yeah, it’s almost, uh, naked.” 

Boris chuckled, “The austerity of this terrace lends well to meditation…” He walked back around the chair, “…and to moments perfect for port, cigars and reflection,” As Boris handed a snifter to Hank and sat down in the other chair, their fingers touched momentarily, and Hank noticed that Boris’ fingers felt very cold.

“May we toast?” Boris asked.

“Yes...sure.” Hank replied.

“To Friendship, and To Your Health. Za vashee zda ro-vye,” Boris stated (first in English and then in Russian), and they touched glasses together which created a singular and solemn bell tone. 

They both took a sip; Hank then watched, and enjoyed, Boris as he savored the port. Even during this noble moment, Hank was still worried about him. Boris put his glass down on the table and opened the humidor. He chose and prepared two cigars by cutting the ends and then gave one to Hank along with the torch. Hank lit his cigar and handed the torch back to Boris who did the same. Silent moments went by as the two men puffed at their cigars and gazed out at the beautiful view.

Boris observed, “You have become more adept with a cigar, I see.”

Hank replied, “Honestly, I’ve been practicing, much to Evan's frustration because I don’t want to look any more foolish than I already do.”

Boris knitted his eyebrows together as he looked at Hank with a tilt of his head, and said in earnest, “You do not look foolish to me, Hank.”

Hank said, “Thanks. I’m just not as worldly as you are. If we were with important people doing this, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you."

Boris offered, “Take comfort, Hank. As you have rescued me before, I would rescue you.” 

Hank smiled behind his snifter. 

More gently, and with a serious tone, Boris said, “It was very considerate of you to, zashchishchat, er, protect me, from the group earlier. Your control over the situation did not go unnoticed. I sometimes forget that I am not alone in my home here any longer,” Boris paused, “My personal activities may attract attention that I may not be entirely prepared to handle richtig, eh, properly. Thank you,” And with that, Boris raised his snifter to Hank in a salute. Boris was genuinely sincere and grateful.

Hank nodded in response and could only think of Boris’ apparent vulnerability. He was both sad for Boris and charmed by him at the same time because of the tenderness Boris showed him at this moment. Boris rarely showed tenderness to anyone. 'Just how much pain is his friend in?' Hank wondered and then said, “You’re welcome, Boris. I’ll try and keep a tighter lid on the group. They don’t understand you, or your needs. I give them credit for their enthusiasm, but as your friend and your doctor, I really must take a more active role in,” Hank paused, “Uh, guarding you. I promise that I’ll do better with that.” 

With that comment, their eyes met.

At that moment, Udo knocked once and entered the terrace, “Hello, Udo!” Hank said cheerfully.

With a relieved sigh, Boris said, “Ah, Udo, I am glad that you are here. Is all well in my dom? Er, moya glavnaya? Er, in my house, yes, I mean, is…all…well…in…my…house?” He shook his head and struggled to use the correct path of language.

Udo appeared not to notice (but Hank did) and said, “Yes, Sir. Mr. Evan and the others were inquiring about the two of you and I assured them that all is in order.”

“Good. Le bon docteur and I will be in need of dinner soon, ja?” Boris looked at Hank.

“Oh, yes!” Hank suddenly felt hungry and looked at the cigar; he idly wondered if it had increased his appetite, or was it that he thought if dinner was served soon, that Boris would eat and feel a little stronger. Dr. Hank had noticed Boris’ continuing slow movements.

“Would you, polhaluysta, um, please, have Chef arrange something for us? I took Hank away from what I assume was a hamburger sandwich meal, so perhaps Chef can prepare a grilled aged steak for him,” Boris looked up at Udo and then back at again at Hank for approval.

Hank smiled and said, “Oh, uh, yeah, that would be great.”

“Certainly, Dr. Hank,” Udo replied and then asked, “How would you desire your steak to be cooked, Doctor, and, would you also care to have vegetables and, er, what do Americans like to eat with their steak?” Udo looked at his Master for help; Boris started to say something, but then Udo continued and slowly said, “Oh, yes, a baked pooh…tay…toe.” 

Smiling at the way Udo had spoken the word 'potato', Hank replied, “Sure, medium rare, please, that all sounds delicious!” Hank was really hungry now. He hoped that his eager interest in food was seen by Boris and would subliminally lure Boris in to eat, also. Hank knew that Boris ate sparingly, sometimes too sparingly, and that knowledge always bothered Hank.

“What would you care to have for your dinner, Sir?” Udo asked his Master, even though he could guess one of the three things that He would say: either baked chicken with rice, a pan-seared delicate fish fillet with a vegetable salad, or wok-sauteed rice with vegetables. Boris stared out at the rolling hills and puffed on his cigar, apparently lost in thought. The moments dragged on in silence as they waited for his answer. Udo was patient as this behavior of the Master had recently become normal. Hank looked at Boris’ profile, saw the weary lines on his patient's still, pale face now from a different angle. Hank and Udo exchanged glances. Hank knew he would have to remember to speak with Udo in private about Boris and how they, together, could care for him better.

“Hank, would the odor of fish at the table be adverse to you whilst you dine?" Boris asked politely.

“Uh, no Boris,” Hank said as he looked up again at Udo, “Eat whatever you’d like, just so long as you do eat, please.” 

Boris turned his head to look at Hank, who looked back at him with a worried expression. Boris’ expression was hard, but quickly softened when he saw Hank’s distress. Hank noticed this change.

“I shall have fish, Udo, spasibo. Also have Patrice bring up some wine for us; an old vintage Bordeaux for Hank, and a South African Sauvignon Blanc for me; make certain my wine is very cold, please,” Boris said and spoke through the clenched teeth which held his cigar.

“Very good, Sir. Where would you prefer to dine tonight?” Udo asked.

Boris brought his left hand up to take the cigar from his mouth and sighed; he placed the snifter on the table and took his right hand up to smooth his circle beard, as if it would help him decide. He stared at the bonsai trees on the terrace for another long, quiet moment, “My office may be ze most ruhig, er, quiet this night, due to ze party at the Guest House.”

Udo had noticed the Master's now even thicker, multi-lingual-peppered speech and wondered if he would be translating for Dr. Hank soon. His Master still spoke a fair amount of English, and that was a good sign; Udo guessed, hopefully, that He did this for Dr. Hank’s sake. If Dr. Hank was not there, then the situation could be quite different. Whenever Boris became too weary (or ill), he always reverted to using words from several languages to form complete sentences; sometimes, as many as three languages within the same sentence. With Boris’ command of about a dozen languages, it would become quite a challenge for Udo to assist him properly. At the moment, He was only using German, Russian, and English; and Udo knew he could manage that. When the Tibetan, Hebrew, and Mandarin kicked in, Udo feared he was useless.

“Excellent choice, Sir, as always. I will take measures to keep your dinner discreet and you shall not be disturbed,” Udo stated, “Dr. Hank, do you have a message for Mr. Evan? He is very persistent. He said he is going to: quote: "...eat your ham…bur…ger..." unquote.”

“Yeah, Udo,” Hank said shaking his head in annoyance, “Please tell him that I’m having dinner with Boris and we don't want to be bothered. Oh, and he can eat whatever he wants, I don’t care.”

Boris watched Hank with amusement. The expression lit up his eyes for a brief moment.

Hank looked at Boris, then shrugged and exhaled, “Brothers! Especially mine!’ 

“Does Evan still believe I have frozen heads in my basement and zat I add to the kollektsiya, er, collection on a regular basis, eh, or something about a death maze in my garden? This is perhaps why he fears for your safety when you are with me?” Boris asked all of this and showed an innocent expression. A surprised Hank couldn’t tell if Boris was joking or not.

Udo even blinked at this.

“I don’t know. Evan, is just, Evan.” Hank replied with exasperation.

Boris said, “Ha! Spasibo, Udo, please come and get us when our dinner is ready, yes?” 

Udo bowed and left silently. Boris looked out at the view again and puffed on his cigar. A few quiet moments went by...

“So, Hank, you think I do not eat?” Boris looked back squarely at Hank now and sipped his port.

“I know you don’t eat – you don't eat enough, Boris. Sometimes I think you sustain yourself only on espressos and cigars,” Hank said firmly.

Boris looked at his cigar as if apologizing to it for Hank’s rude behavior; “Aha! Dr. Hank is scolding his patient…” He said loudly and turned his head back to the view.

“Ok, well, then, let’s talk about this,” Hank launched into doctor mode, “We have addressed most of your health issues over the years, except for this one, specifically. I just don’t think that you take in enough nutrients and calories. I’ve never seen you clean your plate.”

“I am not always as hungry as people - you, Udo, even my Chef - seem to think I should be,” Boris grunted as he puffed at his cigar almost furiously.

Dr. Hank stated, “I think you also work yourself too hard. Those two combined can lead to exhaustion and anemia. And just this evening alone, I am seeing you exhibit signs of both.”

Boris’ expression was mixed: being discovered and capitulation. He was so tired. Boris knew that Hank was right, but he had hoped in futility thought that his doctor had not noticed.

Dr. Hank continued, “Let me show you. Stand up, Boris, please.” 

Boris did so slowly and stiffly; he placed his snifter on the table and the cigar between his teeth. He stood waiting for Hank to rise from his chair with smoke curling upward slowly from the cigar, chin up, arms crossed at his chest. Boris suddenly felt slightly amused. 

Hank said, “Walk 5 paces that way, stop and turn around.” 

Boris did as he was instructed. Five paces was all one could walk in one direction from the chairs on the small terrace and Boris had to adjust his long strides so as not to walk into the wall. 

Dr. Hank instructed, “Ok, now walk 5 paces back.” 

Boris was now in front of Hank and Hank said, “Umhuh.”

Dr. Hank said, “Now, follow my fingers with just your eyes, first right, then left. “ 

Again, Boris complied.

“Yup. Now take the cigar out of your mouth and let me look at your lower, inner eye lids,” Dr. Hank asked.

Boris did so and tilted his head downward slightly; their height difference required this and Boris did so with respect. It didn’t help that the distance was even more pronounced at times, because Boris also had natural, proper, and upright posture.

“Yeah, ok, you can be seated again,” Hank announced. 

Boris put the cigar back between his teeth, sat down, and lifted his chin upward once again - a very classic Boris mannerism.

Hank mused, “You know, Boris, its scary when you get this quiet.”

Boris let out a puff of smoke, and looked upward, then offered, “I frighten Evan when I speak, and I frighten you when I am quiet,” He looked back now with raised, expectant eyebrows at Hank (who sat down) and said, “How does the phrase go? ‘What am I supposed to do with zat?’”

Hank laughed and replied, “Uh, yeah, ok, don’t try to change the subject. This is what I see,” He squared his shoulders and pointed his finger at Boris to make sure that what he was going to say sounded important (which it was), and make it stick (which it needed to), “As your doctor, I know you.”

“Do you, H-Hank?” Boris asked slowly and looked smug at his doctor.

Ignoring the question and the attitude, Hank continued, “First, consistent with other times when you have brought yourself to the brink, your right leg becomes slower to move in your gait than your left leg does, it almost drags. Second, your right eye gets lazy and drags, too. Third, your inner eye lids are very pale. Lastly, your speech has become affected. These are all of the signs of the exhaustion that I am talking about.” 

Boris sipped his port, and looked back at the view, now pensive.

Hank continued, “Let’s address this. What does your work load look like tomorrow?”

Boris quipped, “You have diagnosed me completely without drawing my blood?”

“Yes, of course, Boris, you know I am that good of a doctor. Answer my question,” Hank said firmly.

Firmly responding back, Boris stated, “Four meetings, two in New York, one in Gibraltar and one in Zurich.”

“Um, you can’t do all of that in one day!” Hank exclaimed.

Sighing, Boris elaborated, “I will helicopter into New York in the morning for those meetings, then, tele-conference in early afternoon to Gibraltar and ze same later for Zurich. I shall stay overnight at my New York Penthouse and return home Saturday morning. Business requires my aufmerksamkeit, er, my attention.”

Hank shook his head and said, “Boris, that is way too much, even for you. This is what I want you to do…”

Boris had been staring out at the hill view and with Hank’s last remark, he very slowly turned his head to look at Hank, eyes as cold as steel and he leveled his gaze towards Hank as if preparing for a battle. The smoke curling up from the cigar he had returned to his mouth and this gave him the look of a dragon. 

Hank continued, unfazed by this obvious challenge, “I want you to stay home and tele-conference into the New York meetings; postpone your meetings in Europe until Monday; then tele-conference into them from home as well. You need to take the weekend off and rest…at least the weekend. And, I may prescribe medication, IV fluids with liquid supplements and extended rest, if I don’t see any improvement.”

Boris tilted his head slightly, his expression softened as he stared at Hank and thought to himself, 'How intriguing Hank becomes when he gets like this.'

“And…” Hank continued.

“And?” Boris asked with a new wary expression. He was not accustomed to being told what to do. Only Hank could get away with this.

Continuing into the next set of medical instructions, Hank said “And, you are going to start eating more, and eating more protein, and iron-rich foods, as well as to start taking daily iron supplements. I will work with Udo and Chef, and hey! What happened to the other iron supplements I gave you before?!”

“I stopped taking them. Zey created stomach upset for me,” Boris stated as he finished his cigar.

“You should have told me! There are many different formulations and there is one that will work for you without side effects,” Hank said with exasperation, "Have you been taking them on an empty stomach?"

“Da! Dr. Lawson! I hear and shall obey,” Boris replied loudly and with a flourished dismissal with his hand.

Udo knocked once, entered the terrace, and announced that dinner was ready. Hank wondered at the perfect timing of all of this. Boris had not even looked at his watch.

They stood up at the same time; Hank rose from his chair more quickly than Boris did.

“Promise?” Asked Hank.

“Promise.” Said Boris.

Udo escorted them to Boris’ office. Boris’ walking was slower than normal, his long lean legs would usually propel him quickly and Hank usually had to walk fast to keep up. Not now; Hank and Udo both adjusted the speed of their steps downward to match Boris’ slower stride. Boris was well aware of this but said nothing. He was grateful to these two men for so many things and a small smile found its way to Boris’ lips because of that thought. Hank glanced up at Boris and saw the smile, but left the man to his private moment. Whatever made Boris smile just now was his alone and Hank respected that.

As they entered the office, Boris paused a moment just inside the doorway. He tried to hide the fact that the walk from the terrace had winded him. 'Damn large house…Hank is right,' Boris thought to himself. 'I am on the brink and must follow his instructions.' He looked down at Hank with what Boris hoped was a distracting, pleased expression. 'Hank must not know I am trying to catch my breath,' Boris thought, 'Or he will have me restrained.' Boris placed his right hand on Hank’s left shoulder and said, “Spasibo, er, thank you, Hank for being with me this evening,” The ever-gracious host, Boris smiled and said, “I hope you are enjoying this time as much as I am; if there is anything you want...or need, just please ask, ja?”

Hank nodded and smiled as well and tried to ignore some confusion in his mind.

“Bon soir, mon Chef! Comment allez-vous?” Boris exclaimed, as he tried to act as if he was not as weary as he felt. Boris and Chef Henri exchanged pleasantries, in French, and then Udo seated them at a small dining table.

Just then, Hank received a text from Evan. Then more texts arrived one after the other, as if being the electronic version of frantic. “It’s just Evan,” said Hank, embarrassed, pointing at his phone, “He’s worried about me.” 

Boris patiently waited for Hank to take care of this business with Evan. Hank texted Evan back that there is nothing to worry about; texts continued back and forth with Evan and Hank ended up saying the same thing in different ways. Still Evan persisted...

Boris then removed his cell phone from his pants pocket; but for a moment Boris looked surprised and stared at his phone. He then remembered that he left his jacket and tie in the Music Room, and that explained why he felt so undressed (and chilled) when he sat down at the dining table. Dinner protocol always demanded the wearing of a jacket and tie. Boris shrugged and looked up both Hank’s and Evan’s phone numbers; Boris then texted them both. He typed: 

‘Evan. All is well. Leave us alone. With Regards, Boris.’

Evan’s texting ceased.

At the exact same moment, Hank and Boris look at each other and both spoke the same word: “Rescue,” And both men laughed as one.

Boris then asked Chef, in French, to serve them their dinner. Hank tucked into his perfectly cooked steak and trimmings with gusto. Boris, eating slowly and in his refined manner as was his usual custom, enjoyed the dinner immensely and having his friend for company made all the difference. Boris wondered how he could arrange to have this happen more often...

The two men made small talk and each man delighted in the perfectly paired wines that Patrice, Shadow Pond's Sommelier, had brought up from the cellar. 

Hank finished his dinner, looked very pleased and wiped his lips with his napkin; he then looked at Boris’ plate, and then at Boris (who has left a third of the food on his plate) and Hank said, “Finish your dinner, Boris.”

Boris feigned innocence, having just dabbed at his lips with his napkin, lowered the napkin to the table, and said, “Is this where I am supposed to ask...but how can I keep my girlish figure when you press upon me to eat more?”

Hank choked on his sip of water. Coughing and laughing, Hank exclaimed, “Boris! When will you stop surprising me?!”

Offering a wry smile, Boris softly replied, “Most likely, never, H-Hank.”


	2. Realization, Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris' health has gone from bad to worse and Hank drops everything; and sometimes, even the doctor needs healing.

Boris did as Hank instructed. Promises were always all important to Boris. After a fitful night’s sleep, he tele-conferenced into the two New York meetings and even that proved to be too much for him. Boris returned to his bed at 11 am, utterly spent. Khalil, Boris’ brawny, ex-Mossad Security Chief, had to assist the weakened Boris to walk from his office to his bedroom, as Udo couldn’t hold Boris upright by himself. Boris fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. He was still wearing his suit.

Udo took care quickly of re-arranging the Master's afternoon meetings via cell phone while practically running to the Guest House to locate Dr. Hank. Unfortunately, Hank was not at the Guest House because he was across town caring for another patient. Udo called Hank in a near panic.

After finishing his ministration with his other patient, Hank was back at Shadow Pond within 45 minutes and was escorted to Boris’ bedroom apartment by another security guard who waited for him at the entrance door to the house. Hank found Udo (who looked quite relieved to see Hank) there, as he set up a carafe of water and glasses; Hank rushed to Boris’ bedside. 

“I knew this would happen, I just didn’t think it was this bad,” Hank said. He, with Udo’s help, got the comatose Boris out of his jacket and tie, untucked his shirt, and removed his watch, shoes, and belt. Hank felt around in Boris’ pants pockets to remove anything from them. There was no sense for Boris to sleep on his cell phone or keys (or whatever Boris kept in his pockets) Hank suggested as he looked at Udo, and continued, “Boris certainly wouldn’t appreciate me doing this, would he?”

Startling both of them, Boris quietly said, “I might, if I was feeling better,” A pause, “How long have you been here?”

“Only a few minutes, Boris, I was across town and Udo contacted me,” Hank said.

“Where is Udo?” Boris asked.

“Right here, Master, what may I get for you?" Udo offered. 

“Spasibo, vody, pozhalysta polit, moy drug, Udo.” (Please bring me some water, my friend, Udo.) Boris said in Russian.

Udo poured a glass of water and crawled across the bed to give it to Boris; Hank was on the other side of the bed taking Boris’ vital signs. Udo helped Him to drink the water, and looked at his beloved Master with worry.

Boris said with sincerity as he noticed this expression on his assistant, “Do not worry, Udo, Hank is here and this is temporary.”

Hank looked at Udo and nodded because he wanted to try and ease Udo’s fears also.

Boris then looked up at Hank, with bleary eyes, “Danke, moy drug, Hank.”

Udo translated, “Moy drug means ‘my friend’ in Russian. He also said, thank you.”

“You're welcome, Boris, now just sleep. I will get some things sent over from Hampton Heritage, and I’ll be administering an IV soon,” Dr. Hank stated. 

Boris had already fallen back asleep by the time Hank said the word ‘Hampton.’ Hank finished with the IV and pulled the bed sheet up to Boris’ chest and motioned for Udo to join him at the far end of the enormous bedroom. Hank asked Udo, “Did he eat any breakfast?”

Udo said, “Yes! He even asked for a boiled egg!”

“Good, he’s at least trying to eat,” Hank replied. Hank asked Udo what happened throughout the late night, after he had left and went back to the Guest House, and throughout the morning. Udo dutifully recounted everything in order of what occurred – even when his Master went to the ‘water closet’. Hank smiled and patted Udo on the shoulder, and said, “Thanks.”

Hank’s mind rifled through all of its knowledge to organize a list of supplies he needed from HankMed supplies and/or the hospital. He took out his cell phone and called Evan. Hank explained quickly about Boris’ collapse and then, all business, said, “I am texting you what I need to be brought over right now, Evan.”

Evan asked sincerely, “We didn’t kill Boris, did we?”

Hank’s terse reply was, “Not yet.”

“Ok, we’ll get this over to you, like, 90 seconds ago!” Evan hung up the phone.

A very short while later, Hank was actually impressed at the speed at which the medical supplies were sent over and Hank reminded himself that he would have to thank Evan in person later. Sometimes, just sometimes, his brother was not so much of a putz.

Boris didn’t even react when Hank inserted the IV needle into the back of his right hand. Just as Hank had warned Boris the night before, Hank would be administering an IV with fluids and liquid supplements, plus, he added a mild sedative to keep Boris asleep. Udo proved to be an attentive nurse, and always asked questions to better understand what was going on. Boris’ vital signs remained stable but low throughout the day. 

Udo brought to the apartment lunch for Hank, then dinner much later. Hank then told Udo that he would going to go back to the Guest House and sleep for a bit. Hank took great pains to show Udo that Boris was set for the whole night and instructed him to get some sleep also or he wouldn’t be of any use to “his Master”.

Hank went home to the Guest House comfortable with the thought that Boris would sleep soundly through the night – it was definitely something that Boris needed.

Hank filled Evan in on the major details of the situation. Evan was sincerely concerned and apologetic.

Udo brought in some blankets and slept on a divan in the Master's bedroom; Udo didn’t want to be far away if He was to call out in need during the night.

~~~

The next morning, Hank arrived early, showered and refreshed for the entire day. He was bound and determined to kick start Boris back into full health. He walked into Boris’ apartment and noticed the slept-on divan, blankets neatly folded. Udo also looked somewhat rested. 

Hank changed the IV bag, checked the supplement levels, and reduced the sedative to a one-quarter strength. He didn’t want Boris to wake up with any sort of jolt, and think he was cured ‘overnight’. This process would take time to get Boris back to full 'Boris-level' health. Hank remembered when, what seemed like a long time ago, he had called Boris "impressive" during the first full medical exam that Hank had given Boris; Hank remembered that he also had said, "...for your age bracket..." to which Boris’ curt reply was that “…you could have stopped at impressive...” Hank also then recalled when the two of them went hiking in the hills of Monaco. Hank had told Boris that he "...could hike less vigorously if he wanted to..." Boris’ reply had been, “Nonsense! Anything worth doing is worth doing vigorously.”

Hank looked down at his friend, and patient, now weakened and prone. A handsome pillar of a man with everything in the world at his beck and call, reduced to struggling to regain his vitality. The pants pocket ‘thing’ the day before had rattled Hank more than he cared to admit. Hank didn’t even know where to go with the thoughts that were now filling his head. The thoughts didn’t bother Hank, in fact, he felt strangely good about the times that Boris seemed to hint at something. Somehow, it seemed natural for their friendship (beyond the doctor/patient aspect) to be the way it was, or becoming whatever it was becoming. Hank had always wondered if Boris was teasing him at times and was the teasing part of their friendship? 'Boris is quite a virile man and his confidence enters a room before he does,' Hank thought. Hank found that appealing (and uniquely unsettling) and he assumed, so did others- male and female; unless, of course, the others were his brother, who simply feared him. Boris could do that too, make people fear him; and in an odd way, that was appealing to Hank as well. 

Hank mused; maybe all of this was the way it was supposed to be. Hank said to himself, "Someday, Boris, you and I are going to have a heart-to-heart discussion so that neither of us will have any misconceptions." And who knows what that would turn into or look like or take them. ‘Ah!’ Hank’s mind screamed for a moment.

For now, though, Dr. Hank needed to see Patient Boris to renewed vigor and health. Hank sat down at the table with his laptop and did further research on nutrition, as well as something else medical-related that was tugging at his mind. He just knew that Boris would not accept another person caring for him in addition to Hank (as Boris extended his trust only so far) and pretty much, now, it was all on Hank. 

Something clicked in Hank’s mind, 'It’s been like this before, but I didn’t follow through, even though he had asked me to,' Hank thought, 'Who’s the putz now?' Hank decided to become more knowledgeable and formulate a plan of nutrition for his patient. He had plenty of information to tap into at Hamptons Heritage and Hank emailed the staff dietician for guidance. 

Udo then brought Hank a cup of tea and a chocolate croissant as a mid-morning snack. Udo said, “I slept one hour and stayed with the Master one hour. He did not move at all, Dr. Hank, he only breathed. Is this normal?”

“That’s fine, Udo, remember I had sedated him a little bit. I didn’t want him to wake up in the night at all,” Hank continued, “I’ve just reduced the sedative, so he should be waking up soon. I’ll need your help with him. Is Chef ready to send up a breakfast for him?”

“Yes, Dr. Hank, shall I alert Chef to prepare it now?” Udo was so eager and worried.

Hank tried to put Udo at ease. “Listen, Udo, Boris will be fine, he just has to work with us from now on. I have a new supplement plan for him and yes! Here it is,” As Hank checked his email, “Also a new dietary plan. We’ll each learn it and share it with Chef, and we will all work together. We have to get Boris to accept help from us to help himself whether he wants it or not.”

Udo nodded and thought about that difficult road ahead of them, and excused himself to go and get the Master's breakfast.

All was now quiet in the big room. A short time passed and Hank was reading the dietician’s information again. There was a low moan from Boris’ bed. Hank jumped up from his chair and walked quickly over to Boris’ bedside. His color was a little better, but Hank knew that Boris was as weak as hell. Boris opened his eyes and tried to look around, but in a daze and he wasn’t very successful. When he would turn his head to one side, his eyes would close. Another moan and then Boris said something that Hank couldn’t understand. Hank couldn’t even pick out what language it was. Hank thought, 'Oh, Boris, you multi-lingual-wonder, you.' 

Then Hank heard Boris say his name. Hank sat on the edge of the bed and started to take his blood pressure. Boris turned his head and attempted to focus on Hank. He blinked and said quietly, “I went too far, did I not?”

“Yes, you did, Boris,” Hank took a deep breath and replied, “But you are going to come back. I’ll help you, okay?”

“Ja,” Boris paused and asked softly, “Are we alone?”

“Yes, Boris, we are alone,” Hank quietly replied. He braced himself for whatever Boris might say next.

“Perhaps...” Boris said, haltingly, “I need you...now more than I thought I did.”

Hank had removed the blood pressure cuff, turned and leaned over to put the instrument on the bedside table. When he turned back and looked down at Boris, he found Boris looking directly at him. Boris had a lonely and pensive expression on his face. His half-open, grey/blue eyes were focused with anticipation on Hank’s face.

“Viell-eicht solten win einen Tag sprechen? Er, I mean,” Boris shook his head and made a pained face. It took such an effort to speak only English, “Ah, my head aches,” then speaking slowly, Boris continued, “Perhaps you and I, eh, we...should talk someday soon, ja?”

Hank replied gently, “Yeah, Boris, we really should talk, about a lot of stuff.”

'Oh hell!' Hank thoughts were all crashing in on him; 'Why does this have to be so difficult? And confusing? Why am I feeling so strangely? I have never felt this way – what way? – with someone like Boris. Is he teasing me?'

“Ja, that would be good. Eh, is Udo all right?” Boris asked.

Hank was charmed by Boris’ concern for his assistant instead of himself.

Udo entered the room a moment later, pushing a rolling cart laden with all things breakfast. Hank spoke cheerfully, looked up and smiled at Udo, “Yup, Udo is fine and here he is!“ Then Hank turned back to Boris and Hank said, “I’ll give you something for the pain.”

Udo looked alarmed.

Hank said to him, “Don’t worry, his head aches and I’m giving him some liquid Tylenol in the IV,”

The breakfast on the cart smelled wonderful to Hank and he hoped that Boris found it as pleasant and just maybe it would entice him to eat.

Hank announced, “Your vitals look pretty good, we are on the right track.” 

Udo saw that his Master was awake now and smiled from ear-to-ear and asked with enthusiasm, “Good morning, Sir! May I bring you anything?”

Boris said, “I am happy to see you as well, Udo. Vody, please.”

Udo prepared a glass of water, while Hank helped Boris to sit up a bit more upright. Hank arranged the pillows behind Boris, and he seemed comfortable enough, although his head needed more support to keep his head straight forward. Hank held Boris’ head with one hand and arranged a pillow to support it, then he switched hands to provide support on the other side of Boris’ head. Hank’s warm hands touching Boris’ cool skin was a shock to them both. They locked gazes. 

Hank then backed away so that Udo could have some space with Boris. 

Boris drank the entire glass of water that Udo had provided him. Boris and Udo exchanged glances, and Udo took the empty glass. Boris was still quite weak and Udo had to hold his Master's hand to hold the glass. 

Boris cleared his throat and said, “Aristotle once said: "Without friends, no one would choose to live, thought he had all other goods,"” Boris tried to raise his arm and place a hand on Udo’s shoulder, but couldn’t manage the full effort, so he grasped Udo’s forearm and Udo patted Boris’ hand.

Udo said, “We have a delightful breakfast ready for you, Sir, whenever you feel you can eat.”

“Danke, not right now though, Udo, perhaps in a few minutes, ja?” Boris replied.

“You must eat, Sir, I can assist you.” Udo said.

Udo’s devotion to Boris was extraordinary and Hank suddenly felt a little choked up about it. He was embarrassed about that and turned his head away for a moment. Hank couldn’t believe what he was witnessing: 'Boris ill, yet still being the worldly nobleman and quoting Aristotle! This man, my friend, my patient and whatever else this is, just incredible.' Hank’s other thoughts bombarded him and he walked over to the table to get a sip of his now cold tea. 'Oh boy,' Hank thought, 'What am I going to do about this?'

Udo stood up and went to the cart, fidgeted with the tableware. 

Boris saw and heard the sound, “Da, Udo, I will eat after perhaps you assist me up to the Bath Room.”

Udo looked at Hank who nodded.

“Oh! Okay, sure,” Hank said and he came back to the bedside to help Boris sit up at the edge of the bed. 

Boris did so and wavered a bit. Boris took a deep breath as he seemed to gather his strength for a few moments for the walk to the Bath Room, while Hank arranged the IV tower to roll with Boris. Looking at Boris, Hank instructed, “You can use this like a cane, or a crutch. Hold onto it here,” And then Hank demonstrated where Boris could place his hand.

Udo said quickly, “And I will be at your side, Sir.” 

Boris looked up at Hank and asked, “Where will you be?”

Hank looked at Boris with a fond expression, “Right here, or there, or wherever you need me to be.”

Boris nodded his head and looked at the floor as he placed one hand on either side of his hips on the bed in an attempt to push himself upward from the bed. Boris found that he still needed Hank on one side and Udo on the other to help him rise to a somewhat wobbly, yet standing position. He clutched the IV tower and took a few more deep breaths.

Hank looked up at Boris, “How do you feel?”

Boris met Hank’s eyes and said sadly, “Not well.”

“Okay, Boris, just take it easy.” Hank said, holding his arms outward and forward as if he would catch Boris, if Boris started to fall.

Udo, Boris and the IV tower made their way slowly to the Bath Room with Hank following closely behind. Hank stopped at the doorway and the two men continued in.

Hank stood there and ran his fingers through his hair as he looked around the large space, but he didn't really see anything. His mind was too busy with thoughts; half of those thoughts were medical-related, the other half were the kind he didn’t know how to define.

Boris did well in the bathroom; well, as in he didn’t fall. There were many things like cabinets and towel bars for him to hold onto and his head was not as blindingly in pain quite as it had been. He felt he could see more clearly as well. He finished and leaned against the counter to wash his hands and his face. Boris looked at himself in the mirror blinking, “O koroshy gospodin, Udo!” (Oh, good lord, Udo!) Boris exclaimed in Russian. He thought that he looked worse than the night before after playing the cello.

Hank had heard Boris’ exclamation and called into the Bath Room, “Hey! Is everything okay in there?”

Udo said, “Yes, Dr. Hank, all is well.”

Hank shook his head and waited. He heard them talking in Russian and just tried to relax. He started pacing just outside the bathroom door.

More quietly, Boris said, “Udo, please help me brush my hair, would you? Spasibo. Ya khochu, chtoby vyglyadet’ dostoyno, for Hank.”

Udo whispered, “I am certain, Sir, that Dr. Hank always thinks you look decent,” Udo picked up Boris’ whalebone and boar bristle hair brush – a gift from Boris’ Lady Mother – and reached up to brush into place Boris’ thick, long silver and dark grey hair. Udo asked, “Kay vy dumayte, chto on znayet?”

Boris actually smiled, watching his appearance look more presentable under Udo’s care. Boris quietly replied, “Nyet, he only suspects of my interest now.”

Udo finished brushing, and he and Boris looked at their reflections in the mirror. Boris tried to stand more upright, a pale and lined face stared back at him as Udo straightened his shirt a bit. Boris said, “I shall need to change into more appropriate, er, fresh clothing at some point, ja?”

“When you are stronger, Sir. Would you be so kind as to eat your breakfast now?” Udo asked.

“Yes, let us try some breakfast now.” Boris replied with a sigh, even though he wasn’t hungry. Still staring into the mirror, he knew he would have to admit today, to Hank, that he wasn’t hungry at all, and inquire as to how they could remedy this. 'Perhaps there was another underlying cause, in addition to the depression I experience, that is the deeper cause of my lack of appetite. ' Boris surmised that if he could eat more, he would return to health – simple. If he could get over the depression, he would return further to health – simple? 'Not so; that was more complicated, but repairable if,' Boris thought, 'I only would not merely hint about my feelings to a certain someone. Oh, why did this have to be so complicated! Why do I not just say Hank’s name, even to myself?'

As if Udo was reading his mind, as Udo often appeared to do, Udo said quietly (in Russian,) “You need to be happy. He needs to be happy. Please talk to him soon, Sir,” Udo’s reflection smiled at his Master's reflection.

Boris asked (in Russian), “Do you think he and I would be happy, Udo?”

“Oh yes, Master, yes,” Udo said in English, with joy and conviction.

Boris nodding, returning to English, and said, “There is always a first step.”

Boris turned and with the help of Udo and the IV tower walked out of the Bath Room. Hank was still outside the doorway pacing, and Boris saw him pacing.

Hank said cheerfully, “Hey! Boris, you look a little better now, but that’s not a medical observation.” 

Boris looked down at Hank and smiled slightly at him, “A personal observation, perhaps? Thank you, I may be on the mend,” He replied with a small degree of relief.

As they continued to walk back towards the bed, Hank walked with them now, and Boris announced to Hank, “I must eat my breakfast now, Hank, or poor Udo here shall be reduced to tears.”

“Yes, Sir, I will be,” Udo said plainly, and neither Hank nor Boris knew if Udo was joking or not.

When they were halfway to the bed, Boris asked, “Should I try and sit at the table to have my repast?” 

“Good idea, Boris!” Hank agreed.

They both guided Boris to the table, but halfway across the large room, Boris stopped in mid-stride and swayed and clutched the tower for support, “Merde!” He said forcefully.

Udo’s eyebrows raised; the Master didn’t curse very often, in fact, it was rare. Boris had a wealth of colorful phrases to use and did so, on occasion, when he became angry or frustrated.

In an instant, Udo and Hank, who were already at his sides, grabbed his upper arms to steady him. Boris could feel the warmth of Hank’s hands through his shirt and that warmth felt very nice to Boris.

Hank said, “This is going to happen for a while, Boris. You’re going to experience times when you feel okay, and then other times when you won’t. Right now, at your state of exhaustion, you’ll be feeling more times when you are weak. It’s a healing process that takes time.”

Boris nodded and continued walking. When they helped him into a chair at the table, he was breathing heavily. 

Udo rushed away and came back quickly with a glass of water, which he placed on the table in front of Boris. Hank smiled at the thought that Udo appeared to act as if a glass of water would make everything better for Boris. Hank adjusted the IV tower and checked the IV needle in Boris’ hand. Boris attempted to look his usual, proud, and regal self by keeping his chin up and his back straight while he sat at the table.

Udo set to rolling the cart closer to the table and began to transfer breakfast onto it. As always, Udo set a lovely table, even with fresh flowers. Hank watched Boris, who was starting at the window. The sheer draperies let a gentle light into that part of the room, and he appeared to enjoy it judging by the softened look on his face. Udo saw Boris looking in that direction, and after finishing the table, Udo went over to the window and opened the sheers and the window itself, which allowed a cheerful amount of light, as well as fresh air into the room. 

Hank then noticed that Udo had set two places at the table, “Uh, thanks, Udo, but I already ate, remember the tea and croissant you brought me earlier?”

In a voice that sounded rather like the ‘healthy Boris’ voice, Boris said, “Dr. Lawson, how can you call that a proper breakfast? And you are telling me that I am the one who needs to eat better.”

Udo and Hank exchanged glances. Hank said sheepishly, “Yeah, you’re right; this meal looks wonderful.”

Boris said, softer now and waved his hand at what would be Hanks’ place at the table, “Please join me, Hank,” Boris and Hank looked at each other and Boris managed a small smile for him. The brighter light coming in through the open window made Boris’ eyes look silver now. Hank wondered what color Boris’ eyes really were. Hank sat down and Udo placed a napkin on Boris’ lap, then on Hank’s lap.

“Bon Appetit, Monsieurs! I shall return shortly to check on you...both,” Udo said proudly. 

Boris reached out and grasped Udo’s arm, squeezed it gently and said, with a great degree of sincerity as he looked up at Udo, “Thank you.” 

Udo bowed and only after Boris released his arm, did he turn and leave the room.

“Let’s eat!” Hank said enthusiastically; and they both began their meal.

“I envy your enthusiasm towards food, Hank. Do you think that there may be something else, er, wrong with me that would be diminishing my interest?” Boris asked.

Finishing a mouthful of food and using his napkin, Hank said, “Yeah, I think there is and well, I want to draw blood today and get it to the lab today. I have an idea of what may be happening with you, but I won’t know until I get the results back. I’ll put a stat request on processing and report return.”

“Would you care to elaborate now on your theory?” Asked Boris, taking a sip of coffee.

“Well, not really. I’d rather be sure first,” Hank replied and nodded.

Boris found that he had to really think hard to speak only in English, but it was worth it, for Hank’s sake, “I understand. I should like to apologize for my use of foul language this morning...I became very frustrated when I started to sway. It also is not…” A head shake, and he continued, “Helpful that I can curse fluently in multiple languages.”

“It’s okay, Boris, really, I get it. No offense taken. I can curse in two languages: good English and bad English!” Hank suddenly felt silly and wanted to see if he could get Boris to laugh, so he delivered this punch line and waited. The laugh they shared he previous night had felt terrific.

Boris knitted his eyebrows and turned his tilted head to look at Hank, fork in mid-air, blinked, as if trying to process Hank’s statement and simply falling short. Swallowing, he then opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and then just shook his head. Boris shrugged his shoulders and continued to bring the fork back down to the plate. Hank was the one who laughed.

The two men continued on with their breakfast and it was a pleasant scene to see: sunlight streaming into the room and glinting off of the crystal glasses with bright orange juice in them. Udo had brought the gold rimmed china, so that too sparkled. Boris made an extra effort to eat more. He truly enjoyed having Hank there with him and wanted to please him. Speaking slowly, Boris said, “This is the first time, in a long time, that we have shared meals two days in a row, Hank,” Then, feeling a bit more courageous, Boris said, “I could get accustomed to this.”

Hank stopped in mid-chew. 

They looked at each other. 

Boris smiled slightly and appearing almost shy about what he just said, he then looked down at his plate.

Hank finished chewing and swallowed hard, “Yeah,” Hank paused, “Um, this is really very nice, Boris, kinda peaceful, too. Breakfast with Evan is like eating in a train station: loud, busy and messy.”

Boris actually chuckled at this and Hank was very pleased. He liked the timbre of Boris’ chuckle.

“My days are usually like this, Hank; I work hard to pflegen, I mean, maintain a type of harmony here at Shadow Pond. Harmony is healthy, yes?” Boris stated simply and continued, “It may not feed the body…” he trailed off with a look at Hank that asked him to finish the sentence.

Hank finished the sentence, “…but it feeds the mind and the heart,” Hank smiled very wide, quite pleased with himself at the moment and his eyes were shining and very blue.

There were so many things that Boris wanted to say to this delightful man. Boris eased into a reverie, 'So much to do with him… So much to teach him… To show him… To please him… To share with him,' Boris felt a small thrill, even through his exhaustion. 'All in good time,' Boris thought, ‘Slow and steady wins the race with Hank. When I have my health back…' 

Boris was, by this time, blankly staring out the window, his strength then failed him quickly.

Hank noticed this, and sensed the sudden downturn of Boris’ energy. And Boris had appeared to, what Hank would have called ‘left the building’. He said in a kind tone to Boris, “You did a great job eating your breakfast, Boris, I think you need to get back into bed for some sleep.” 

Boris blinked and looked at Hank with half-closed, dazed eyes, “Ja, that would be good, er, now, and zeit, bitte…” And he railed off to whisper in German.

At this point Boris started to slump in his seat, Boris looked at Hank now with a pleading look, “Pomogi mme, Hank…” (‘Help me,’ in Russian) and Hank jumped up to hold Boris upright, just as Udo walked in. “Udo! Please help me get him into bed!” Hank exclaimed.

The two men had a rough time getting the nearly comatose Boris up (Hank had then temporarily detached the IV) so that they could walk him back to the bed without being entangled in the tubing. Boris was also very cold to the touch and that bothered Hank a great deal. They sat Boris down on the bed and he was already asleep. They stretched him out and settled him in, arranged the pillows for his comfort and the sheet pulled up to his chest.

“Udo,” Hank said, “I’m going to draw blood, (which he started to do), can you put another pair of socks on his feet?”

Udo, looking worried, nodded and quickly went into Boris’ Closet Room, and returned just as quickly; he carefully pulled the socks onto Boris’ feet over the other socks, “What else may I do, Dr. Hank?” Udo asked.

Still drawing Boris’ blood into vials, Hank said, “I’ll need these brought to Hamptons Heritage immediately with these instructions for stat processing.”

Boris groaned and spoke incoherently. Udo paled.

Hank assured Udo, “Don’t worry, he’s going to be fine,” Hank finished the blood draw, prepared the instructions, then handed it all to Udo in a sealing bag, who raced out of the room clutching the package to his chest.

Hank texted Evan to be on watch for the delivery of Boris’ blood and asked him stat everything. Hank separately texted Evan a thank you for his help with all of this with a promise that Hank would fill him in later, perhaps over a cold beer on the patio. Hank knew Evan enjoyed those brotherly times. He forcefully pushed aside the thought that eventually he would be explaining something else to Evan.

Hank took a deep breath and returned to Boris’ bedside. Hank made sure that the IV was secure and functioning properly again. Liquid supplements in the proper amounts, he decided against more sedative now as he knew that Boris was now down for the count for a while, and Hank wanted the grogginess to go away. Hank removed the sedative completely from the IV. Boris was having no trouble sleeping now it seemed; Hank made sure he was comfortable, took his vital signs – they were low and slow, but steady and strong. 'Good,' Hank thought somewhat relieved.

He pulled the large cashmere blanket that was on the bed, over Boris as well; Boris needed to get warmer. Hank touched Boris’ hands and they were cold. Hank placed them under the covers and sighed, as all he could do now was to wait. Hank touched Boris’ cool forehead; looking sad, but fondly down at Boris’ sleeping countenance, and softly said, “When you are well, things will be different for us. Better. We’re going in a new direction together, Boris.” Squaring his shoulders, Hank wanted now to be really over the fear – he didn’t know what else to call it. Hank felt he was on the brink of an internal discovery.

Hank walked back over to the table, sat down and drank the rest of his orange juice, looking at his friend’s plate, and started staring out the window in thought. 

Udo returned and quietly entered the room. He saw that Boris was tucked in and went over to check on Hank. They spoke in hushed tones. Hank said, “Thanks, Udo, I couldn’t do this without you. You are extraordinary.”

Udo replied and bowed slighly, “You are welcome, Dr. Hank, but it is You, and He, (Udo nodded in the direction of Boris) who are the extraordinary ones. I am merely Udo and proud to provide assistance to you both.”

Hank started to say something; and ran his hands through his hair, he was on the very edge of taking Udo into his confidence and asking for advice, when Udo gently said, “My Master is, “ Udo paused, and looked directly at Hank and judged his reactions, “Extremely fond of you. Perhaps you already know this, Dr. Hank?”

Hank stuttered, “I, uh, yeah, well maybe; I’m confused. I don’t know what to do, or think or um, what to feel,” He sighed heavily and hung his head.

Udo asked Hank, in earnest, “Are you afraid of him, Dr. Hank? You need not be. You hold an extra special place in his heart that he has reserved for no other. Your, friendship, is more than you both know.”

Hank asked, “How do you know all of this? No, I’m not afraid of him,” a long pause, “I’m afraid of not knowing why I feel the way that I do, for someone like, him. It’s never been like this for me, it’s always been something…else.” 

Hank continued, falling completely into this admission, “I’m here, Udo.” Hank put his right hand, palm flat and facing downward at about waist height, “And Boris is here,” Hank put his left hand, palm flat and facing downward at about forehead height. His expression was exasperated.

Udo smiled, looked into Hank’s eyes with a direct purpose, hoping that what he would do and say next, would ease Dr. Hank’s pain. Using one of his hands to take Hank’s higher-placed hand and brought it to his chest level, then Udo took Hank’s lower-placed hand and brought it up to his chest level and next to the other hand. Then, while Udo guided both of Hank’s hands so that the palms faced each other and met at Hank’s heart, in a prayer-like position, and held them gently together for a few moments, Udo said, “High. Low. Man. Woman. Black. White. What does any of that matter when there is true affection?” Udo smiled a very sweet smile at Hank.

Hank took a deep breath and thought, 'This just got really weird, but it’s nice.' Looking at Udo, Hank suddenly felt lighter and less burdened. That, too, was weird and nice. "Is this what nice feels like?" He wondered and then Hank said, “Thanks, Udo, this, uh, really helps, and I really don’t know why.”

Udo bowed and released Hank’s hands, which stayed at his heart level for a few moments more. Udo said, “If you do not need my assistance for a few moments, Dr. Hank, please allow me to clear the breakfast table.”

Hank looking down at his hands, and then separating them slowly, said, “Thanks, Udo, everything is good right now, go ahead. We are just going to have to wait on Boris’ lab results,” Hank then went over to sit on a lounge chair in the cozy seating area near the open window. Sitting in the sun felt good. He had time to think now, about all of it. Hank closed his eyes. It suddenly didn’t hurt to think. Hank thought to himself, ‘Did Udo just ‘heal me?’’ 

Before Udo left with the rolling cart, he brought Hank and glass of water and set it on a side table next to where he was sitting. He gave Hank an all-knowing smile and Hank smiled in gratitude back at Udo; then Udo left a glass of water on Boris’ bedside table and took a moment to gently touch Boris’ shoulder.

Alone now in the room with the sleeping Boris, Hank just sat there and stared out of the window. He felt more eager to bring Boris back to health for, obviously now, several reasons and one of those reasons was intense curiosity.

Within the next four hours, Hank accomplished the following: he checked and answered emails, he re-assigned his HankMed patients to other doctors, he memorized Boris’ new dietary plan and the new vitamin/mineral supplement regiment sent over by Dr. Beltram, he placed a prescription order for the latter (to be sent to Shadow Pond later that day,) he called the lab to check on Boris’ results (they were not ready yet), he ate a sandwich lunch which Udo brought to him, and he took a short nap. 

Hank dreamt that he and Boris were inside a large building with many hallways and doorways and as they walked together, Boris kept opening doors for Hank.

Udo was always within arms’ reach and seemed to instinctively know when Hank needed him. 

At about the four and a quarter hour mark, Hank finally received the lab results. He would have to remember to talk to Evan about what the lab thought the real meaning of ‘stat’ should be, he really should have received the results in half the time. Hank finished reading the report which confirmed what Hank had suspected that was exacerbating Boris’ condition.

Udo stood quietly by Boris’ bedside and watched something that perplexed him, he tilted his head slightly.

Udo then walked over to the table where Hank was in the process of finishing the request for the new medication to be sent over along with the supplements order. He placed a ‘double stat’ on all of it, hoping that would speed things up. Udo asked Hank, “Please come see the Master, Dr. Hank, is this behavior normal?”

Hank submitted the request, stood up and asked Udo what he was seeing as they walked across the large bedroom. Udo said, “He breathes soundly, then has short breaths.”

“Oh,” said Hank, “Maybe he’s dreaming,” Looking down at Boris, he saw rapid eye movement and told Udo, “Yup, he is in deep sleep and dreaming.”

Hank lifted up the blanket and sheet, on the side, to bring Boris’ right arm out from underneath the blanket and bed sheet; Hank thought it was time to eliminate the IV altogether. When Hank did this, the back of his hand touched Boris’ hip near the pants pocket briefly. 

Boris said, in a low voice, “My pockets are already empty, H-Hank, you took care of that yesterday, ja?”

Hank and Udo jumped slightly.

“Funny Boris,” Hank said.

“I sometimes attempt to be so,” Boris said flatly.

“We thought you were sleeping,” Hank said, as he removed the IV.

“I was, you awakened me,” Boris said.

“I’m sorry, how do you feel?” Hank asked. 

“I would like to sit up, get up, er, change my clothing and…” Boris trailed off.

Udo said, “I have brought you a glass of water, Sir.”

“Then allow me to sit up, danke,” Boris replied.

They helped him to sit and it was good to see that Boris wasn’t as groggy as he was the last time he tried to sit up. 

The two men looked at each other for a moment. 

Udo then asked, “May I bring you each a dinner?”

“Hank, will you be joining me for dinner tonight?” Boris asked. “I am not the best dinner companion at the moment, but you are, and I am getting better.”

“Yeah, Boris, I’d like to have dinner with you,” Hank said.

“Sir, your menu for tonight?” Udo asked.

“Please Hank, do help Udo to choose something nice for us, both, ja?” Boris asked.

“Sure, here, drink this water and just relax here for now. Udo, over here, please?” Hank said as he nodded his head away from where they were standing by the bed.

Hank told Udo about the lab results, and about the new medication and supplements that should be arriving very soon. They chose a meal for dinner and Hank asked if there was a cane in the house. Hank explained further, “Since I took the IV out, he won’t have the IV tower to use, but he will need something and a cane would work just fine.”

“I shall take care of all of this now, Dr. Hank,” Udo stated. “I will return soon to help him change into fresh clothing,” And he went off to take care of these details.

Hank smiled and returned to Boris’ bedside, saying, “I’m going to check your vital signs again. Udo is going to bring you a cane to help you walk until you get stronger.”

Boris watched as Hank did all of this. Hank got up to roll the tower away from the bed and then came back to sit on the side of the bed facing Boris. “How do you feel now?” Hank asked.

“Hmm, a little less tired, minor body aches, in need of clean clothing and I am a bit hungry,” Boris announced.

Hank smiled and it made Boris happy to see him smile. Hank said, “I received your blood work back.”

“And?” Boris asked.

Hank stated, “Your cholesterol is elevated, you’ve been cold and you’re lack of appetite has made your exhaustion worse. Now, we know you have to slow down with your work and…”

“Hank, please.” Boris interrupted him, almost pleading.

“You have developed Hypothyroidism and all of those symptoms are standard with that ailment. Even though you are in an advanced stage of Hypothyroidism, we caught it before it progressed to a much worse form, called Myxedema, which can be fatal if left untreated.” Hank was all doctor at this point.

“What has caused this and what can we do about this?” Boris asked.

Hank replied, “Well, stress doesn’t help. Hamptons Heritage is sending over the supplements and a medication that I want you to start taking. It’s called Novothyrox, which should jumpstart your thyroid back into normal activity after a period of continual use. Now, Boris, you HAVE to tell me if you develop any side effects with this new medication, because there are several formulations that we can try and we will find one that works best for you. Taking the supplements, the new medication, and rest, you, uh, we should start seeing improvement soon. You are strong and will bounce back.”

Hank gave Boris a pleased smile; he was pleased to have been able to get a start on this path of better health for his patient.

Boris looked relieved, ‘Oh! To be vital again!’ he thought to himself.

Hank could tell that Boris was thinking. Hank had started to learn Boris’ carefully guarded expressions; although Hank knew that he’d never be as good as Udo.

Boris was thinking about many things and he almost felt happy. He gave Hank a pleased smile in return.

Udo returned with an intricately carved, bone-handled cane and a white, plastic box with all of the items that Hank had ordered from Hamptons Heritage and announced, “Dinner will be arriving shortly.” 

Hank said, “We’ll talk more about this during dinner (amongst other things, both men thought to themselves at the same time,) but for now,” Hank pulled out one Novothyrox and handed it to Boris with the ever-present glass of water and instructed, “Take this now. Please.”

Boris said, amused, “Hank, by now, you of all people, do not need to beseech me, any longer. I have learned…” He looked at Hank to finish the sentence.

Hank replied, “You have learned your lesson.”

Boris took the pill and a sip of water with it. “Udo! Well done on the choice of the walking stick!” Boris looked at the cane with admiration.

“Why is it so special?” Hank asked.

Boris said, “This walking stick was created in England in 1920 and is made of Malacca Rattan from Sumatra," He showed it to Hank, “And the stag antler handle is from a stag hunting trip my Grandfather attended that same year. The handle pulls out to reveal a dagger,” He showed Hank this as well, “This was custom made for my Grandfather. A stag is on my family crest,” Boris said proudly.

Hank thoroughly enjoyed listening to and watching Boris talk about the cane. Boris’ face lit up with happiness for a longer amount of time than he had shown in a long time.

“Udo, please help me change into fresh clothes now, ja? Hank, I may need your assistance as well,” Boris asked them both.

Udo smiled, but kept his face turned away so that they two of them could not see his expression. He wanted them both to be happy and perhaps this was the beginning for them.

They helped Boris up from the bed and he seemed to enjoy utilizing the cane. His chin came up and his back was a little bit straighter.

As the three of them slowly entered Boris’ closet room, Hank whistled, “Wow! A family of four could live in here!”

Boris looked puzzled and asked, “Why would a family want to… Oh, you are joking?”

Hank just smiled and nodded.

Udo and Hank guided Boris to an elaborate, cushioned bench in the center of the room, where he sat down slowly and took a breath. He held the cane by the handle, one hand on top of the other, with his legs on either side of it, looking regal, and scanning the racks in front of him. 

The room was done in rich walnut with neat rows of his suits, shirts, trousers, ties, jackets, and shoes. (Boris’ clothing was organized by type and then by color.) There was a full-length, triple mirror in the center of one of the walls surrounded by the drawers which had elaborate bronze handles on them. Lighting in the room was bright but not glaring.

Boris said to Udo, “Let us go with a beige jacket and trousers, and a green shirt, I will forgo a tie this evening, Udo.” 

Udo set about gathering the clothing, hanging it on a butler rack in front of Boris. Hank stood off to the side of him, not knowing that Boris could see him reflected in one of the triple mirrors. Hank fidgeted with the hem of his untucked polo shirt; to Boris, Hank looked shy and almost uncomfortable.

“Hank? Is everything all right? You are very quiet,” Boris asked but did not face Hank.

“Uh, yeah, Boris, we’re just having dinner in your bedroom, you don’t have to dress up,” Hank replied.

Boris turned around and eyed Hank, “I assure you, this,” As he waved a hand back at the butler rack, “Is NOT dressing up. Please forgive me Hank, this is just one of my habits.”

Hank smiled and seemed to relax a little bit.

Returning to face the butler rack, Boris asked Hank, “Do you recall when we were in Monaco and I had my tailor, there, fit you for that suit?”

“Yeah, that IS a really great suit, Boris.” Hank replied.

“I thought so too, so much so that I commissioned him to create three more for you, in different colors. You are standing in front of them. There are also some shirts and ties to wear, which are next to them.” Boris stated.

Hank started, stepped away from the racks he was standing in front of, and turned around to look at them, “Gees, Boris, you didn’t have to do that,” Hank fingered the fabric on one of the jackets, “Oh, this IS really nice. Why would you do this for me, Boris?” Hank asked.

“Because,” Boris paused, “I knew I would need to show you my appreciation at some point in the future, and well, now appears to be a very good time for me to do that,” Boris turned on the bench towards him again and said, “The clothing is there for whenever you choose to wear it and I hope that you shall feel good whilst you are wearing it. Thank you for everything that you are doing for me. I should also apologize for being so stubborn and set in my ways at times.”

“It’s all right, Boris. I understand stubborn being a lot of that myself. I’ve had worse patients and more challenging friends. Hey, and I have Evan for a brother!” Hank said cheerfully with a smile.

Boris turned back towards Udo and nodded in agreement for the ensemble that Udo had gathered for Boris. Boris placed the cane to one side, leaning up against the bench. He began to unbutton his shirt and stretched to remove it. As the shirt came off, Boris’ long torso was in full view, and Hank saw Boris’ ribs showing through his skin and became alarmed. He moved quickly to stand in front of Boris.

Looking down at Boris, he said, “Boris! Just how much weight have you lost?” He asked with a great deal of concern which was tinged with the beginnings of anger.

“Ah, yes, well, perhaps only about seven pounds?” Boris replied, somewhat shamefully.

“Seven pounds!” Hank cried. He now was very angry. “Boris! You have always been a lean man, but you never had seven pounds to lose! With you not eating, you are most likely now losing muscle mass and that is not good at all! I’d say you were on the very verge of Myxedema. Why didn’t you tell me sooner how sick you really were?! I have to be honest with you, Boris, I’m very upset right with you right now. Why won’t you ever let me take care of you?!”

A few moments of silence went by as they looked at each other. Hank stood in front of and looked down at Boris, Hank’s hands moved from being on his hips to forward as if pleading; Boris sat on the bench shirtless, looked up at Hank, and his once straight posture was not so straight any longer, his shoulders sagged slightly. 

Boris was the first look away and he noticed that Udo had disappeared. He was alone in his closet room with Hank, half-dressed, and Hank was furious with him. Boris answered Hank’s question, but to himself, ‘Because Hank, I have wanted to take care of you instead,‘ Boris also thought, 'This is more sobering than I am comfortable with. 'It is time.' 

In a much subdued voice, Boris said, “I,” And faltered, “...was wrong not to take you into my full confidence, Hank, especially after all of these years, together. I am sincerely sorry for my actions. I promise, I will never do this again.”

Hank, still angry but startled by this abashed apology, said, “Can we just stop doing this crap to each other right now?! Can we be completely open and honest, about everything, going forward, from now on?!” Hank’s eyes were dark blue now and he glared at Boris.

Boris’ head almost snapped back to look up at Hank, “Yes, I would like that very much,” He said quietly. 

“I’m going to go out there,” Hank said sternly and pointed at the doorway to the bedroom, “And text Evan to tell him that I won’t be home for dinner tonight! In fact, I don’t know when I’m going home, I’ve got too much to do here! You and I are going to talk, tonight!” 

Hank stormed out of the closet room, leaving Boris to himself, who stared at the butler rack. He hadn’t meant to anger Hank; he only wanted to make him happy. Boris thought about all of his elaborate plans of how he wanted to present himself, and his intentions, to Hank and how all of that had changed now. He didn’t think he looked that unhealthy, just thin. 'Good lord,' Boris thought to himself, 'He is a doctor, and if this is going to where I believe it is going, and where I want it to be going, he will notice anything that is not well with me. I will not be able to hide anything from him any longer.' Boris thought to himself, 'Why did ‘The One’ for me have to be a doctor?'

He felt the familiar tug of the depression he was under and sighed deeply. He shivered slightly and decided, although he was thoroughly melancholy now, to try and dress himself. He thought if he put on fresh clothing, he could face Hank at dinner with some degree of shredded pride. He used the angled cane handle to pull the butler rack closer to him. He placed the cane up against the side of the bench. He knew he couldn’t just stand up to undress and re-dress himself, so he would have to be creative. The rack slid across the carpet over to him easily enough, and he reached out to take the clean shirt and put it on, buttoning it up. 'Good, done,' He thought. Now, for his trousers…

Meanwhile, Hank was at the farthest end of the bedroom pacing, gesturing and talking to himself, and running his hands through his hair. His mind awash in frustration, he had to do some breathing exercises to calm himself. 'Damnit, Boris, to be so foolish,' he thought, 'How dare you do this to me, again! To make me worry about you even more than I already do! Health was nothing to take likely! Death is permanent!' Hank was suddenly very weary of the teasing and undertones that Boris offered him and Hank now needed to know everything. He started to recall of the times that he had become truly worried about Boris and pieces of a puzzle started falling into place for Hank. 

He then noticed that the window had been closed and the drapes drawn, lights had been turned on and were casting a warm, comfortable glow about the enormous room. The table appeared to almost be ready for dinner service, set for two. He stopped pacing by the window and took out his phone. He texted Evan telling him he wasn’t going to be back for a while. Evan replied, ‘Yeah, but are YOU ok?’ It was way too early to tell Evan about some of the other things that were happening, so Hank just texted back, ‘Yeah, but it’s a challenge.’ Evan texted, ‘Duh, Bro, you are taking care of Boris, remember?’ “Oy.” Hank said out loud, looking up at the ceiling.

Boris most definitely couldn’t dress himself as he usually did, and he even tried to stand up by himself but fell back on the bench squarely on his backside. He looked around to see if either Hank or Udo had seen him fall and was relieved when he didn’t see either of them. Boris couldn’t bear to face Hank if he had fallen, considering how angry Hank was at him at this moment. 

He next unfastened his trousers, (my goodness they are wrinkled, he thought) and pushed them past his hips and down his long legs. Boris made an odd sound with his lips - how ridiculous he must have looked wearing a shirt and an undergarment, trousers bunched down around his ankles and socks, sitting on the bench in his closet. He untangled his feet from the trousers, and left them in a pile on the floor, along with the wrinkled shirt; he leaned over to grab the fresh trousers and tried to do the process in reverse; however, he found that he had very little strength at this point left, to lift even one leg into the trousers. He laid the fresh pair neatly across the rack so that they wouldn’t wrinkle. 

He sighed heavily, picked up the cane, placed the base on the floor between his legs, closed his eyes and rested his hands and forehead on the handle. He just breathed in and out, like the monks had taught him. He was too melancholy to even to call out for help, so he decided to rest there until either Hank or Udo came back for him.

Hank walked back into the closet room, saw Boris and rushed to his side. He knelt down on Boris’ left side, placed his right hand on Boris’ left shoulder and his other hand on Boris’ cool, bare knee. Hank’s chest was against Boris’ upper arm. Hank didn’t say anything and waited for Boris to look at him.

Boris looked up a moment later and he relished the Hank’s warmth on his cool skin. He felt so cold. Hank gently pushed up against Boris at that moment and Boris closed his eyes again and bowed his head.

“Are you ok?” Hank asked gently.

“Ja,“ Boris replied, “Ja, but I need help with my trousers; and I am not being ‘funny’ this time,” He added, placing the cane aside once again.

Hank smiled and just shook his head and said, “Let me help you,” Then Hank assisted Boris, who did not resist, with getting the fresh trousers up all the way to his waist, so that he could fasten them and tuck in his shirt. Hank got up and reached over to the butler rack and got the belt which he handed to Boris who fed the belt through the loops and buckled it.

Hank returned to the kneeling position besides Boris, but this time, Hank brought his right arm around Boris’ back to rest on the other shoulder and placed his left hand back on Boris’ left knee. Boris’ leaned into Hank and placed his right hand on top of Hank’s hand at his knee. Hank placed his forehead on Boris’ shoulder and Boris leaned into the embrace further, his left cheek on Hank’s hair. They both applied pressure to the embrace.

Hank said, “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Boris. I guess you get the angriest with the people you most care about.”

Boris replied, “You were well within your right to do so. I blatantly hid the severity of my illnesses from you. Please forgive me, Hank.”

More quiet moments passed as they enjoyed this newly-found closeness and sincerity. Everything had changed for them. Both of them understood more now, than they ever had before. There was no more pressure, it had been released. It was as if all of the uncertainties, the questions, and the worry had simply evaporated. The longing for each other and the ultimate need for love – painfully known by the one of them and equally as painfully unknown by the other – had finally merged together within them, in just these few moments, to create their connection. 

“How do we begin this new era of our openness and honesty?” Boris asked quietly.

“I’m not sure,” Hank replied.

“Do you think that this is a good start?” Boris said, then he paused and said, “I do.”

“Yeah, I do, too,” was Hank’s reply.

Udo had entered the bedroom, didn’t see either of them there, and surmised that Hank and Boris were still in the closet room. (Udo did not know what had just transpired.) He silently walked over to that doorway and peeked in, seeing them there in a type of embrace. He retreated respectfully to allow them this private moment. Udo walked out of the bedroom to retrieve the cart from the hallway; he had brought their dinners and now began to silently set the meal up at the table.

They pulled away from each other, but only slightly, in order to look at each other; Boris’ face was very sad. “Will I be well again soon, Hank?” He asked gently. “I have so much to share with you, but, eh, I must be healthy again so that we can enjoy it all, together.” Boris felt tightness in his throat that he did not enjoy. His eyebrows knitted together and his lips were a thin line. He felt pressure behind his eyes. 

In fact, Boris had wanted to be the strong-Boris that he was when this realization came to both of them. It was not going as planned and he felt anger towards himself; he always had things much more organized than the way this was going. This was so very important, more so than anything else in his life now, and he believed his plan was foolproof. Egad, thought Boris, who indeed is the fool here.

Hank saw this pain on Boris’ face, and he was filled with sympathy for the weakened man. He made a positive expression on his face to show strength, because it was obvious that Boris was a wreck and truly needed his stronger energy at the moment. Hank felt more brave, and clear, about things than he had felt in a very long time. Hank had no more questions about why; he felt calm and strong, and knew he was where he was supposed to be: at Boris’s side.

“Yeah, Boris, you WILL be your healthy, vigorous self again because of two things: you really now WANT to be healthy, and I really want you to be healthy, too. We are going to do this together; we have a really good reason now – us! We’re going to get you out of this condition, get you strong again, and eliminate your exhaustion, as well as your depression.” 

Boris started to say something and Hank made a face to stop him before he said anything. “I know about your depression, Boris, you’ve had it for a long time; I’ve seen the signs in you; and I now know why you’ve been depressed; holding things inside is not good at all. You’ve been depressed and I’ve been confused. What a pair we make! Everything is going to change now. Besides, what kind of a doctor could I call myself, if I can’t cure my closest friend?” Hank replied and gave Boris his best smile, his blue eyes sparkling in the bright lights of the closet room.

Cheered somewhat by Hank’s bright eyes, Boris said, “Ah, truth is all what you say here.” 

Boris took a deep breath and moved his hand from on top of Hank’s at his knee. Boris mustered all of his courage. He knew he had to do this and say something now, for both of their sakes. He took his long, elegant, cool hand and placed it on Hank’s warm cheek. “I apologize for my hand being so cold, I do hope that this malady goes away soon; I am usually not like this. What do they say about cold hands, eh, that there is a warm heart behind it?” Boris said kindly and continued. “I want to say so much to you, Hank. I wanted to begin this, with us, differently, you know…very differently.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. I didn’t have any plans, and ha! It seems that I was looking in the wrong places. I was spending all of my time trying to figure it all out, figure me out, figure you out, and hitting a brick wall. We do have a lot to talk about, don’t we? I’ve always, sorta, been ‘just your doctor,’ and yeah, we’ll talk about that sometime, too, not now. Okay? I’ll explain later. Just know that, our lives have changed, a lot! And, I just called you ‘my closest friend.’ Its nice sounding; but isn’t accurate any more, huh?“ Hank said. 

Boris shook his head, but still looked sad and very weary. Boris dropped his hand from Hank’s cheek. “Please help me up so I can put on my jacket. I am very cold, Hank.”

Hank grasped Boris upper arm, and with Boris using the cane, he was able to rise. Hank stood there with his arms reaching out, ready to catch him. As Boris steadied himself, using the bench against his calves as a brace, he nodded that he was as steady as he was going to be at the moment; Hank stood up and got the suit jacket from the butler rack, helped Boris put it on, reached up and adjusted his collar for him. 

“Ah, a good deal better, thank you.” Boris said, looking down fondly at Hank. “Do I look decent?” running a hand through his long hair.

“Yeah, you always look decent to me, Boris; but I could feel you shiver just now...”


	3. Reciprocal, Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The definition of reciprocal is: the binding each of two parties equally; Boris and Hank are now experiencing this.

Hank said, “Hey! I think I smell dinner!” 

“Then, let us see what Udo has brought us, shall we?” Boris said and took a tentative step forward leaning heavily on the cane. He nodded and they both walked slowly into the apartment from the Closet Room. Hank stayed on the side opposite of the cane and was poised and ready to catch Boris, “Please hold my arm, Hank, will you?”

Hank took Boris’ upper arm and looked up at Boris, “What do we call each other, now?” Hank asked; suddenly feeling so young and innocent (and looking as much also, thought Boris.) They continued walking slowly now over to the dining table, where Udo wited for them with a calm smile on his face, hands clasped in front of himself.

With a nobleness that overshadowed his exhaustion, Boris stood straight and ventured, suddenly feeling free to talk openly, “Your eagerness has always been one of your greatest charms, Hank. If you must know, I have always fancied that we would be ‘companions’ to each other; at least, at the beginning of this journey which we are embarking upon. You must know, too, Hank, that this is somewhat new for me as well. I, also, have looked in the wrong places for what I was seeking.”

Boris continued, but stopped walking and looked at Hank with affection, “I was shaken as well, at the beginning, but have long since given up at questioning my interest in you, Hank. After a great deal of pondering and yes, research, I had come to the conclusion that you are just simply ‘The One’ whom I need in my life. Your gender had become immaterial to me. I know this sounds crass, but…eh, I do not mean to sound insensitive or insulting…” Boris actually didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

Hank said, “I’m not insulted. You’ve just always seemed more comfortable about everything, no matter what it was. Maybe that was what was confusing me. It must be your worldliness. I envy you in that way. Gees, we have so much to talk about!” Hank continued after a moment, “Yeah, and I just can’t bring myself to call you ‘my boyfriend.’’

Boris rolled his eyes, cringed, and he nearly fell over. Hank had to grip tighter on his arm to prevent that from happening, “Oh, goodness, please Hank, I should die if you take to calling me that vile descriptor!”

“Good evening, Sirs, is all well?” Udo asked as they now approached the table, ignoring what he just saw and heard.

“Quite well in some areas, (he looked at Hank) Udo, and improving in others,” Boris stated as he touched the cane on the floor twice which caused it to make knocking sounds.

Hank and Udo both assisted Boris in sitting down, but he needed a little less of their help this time, and set the cane handle against the edge of the table. Then Udo pulled out Hank’s chair and seated him. Napkins were placed on laps and then wine was served. 

“The food does smell very good this evening. I actually feel a bit hungry,” Boris said, “What did you bring us, Udo?”

“Dr. Hank suggested a hearty lasagna with meat sauce and a salad for tonight. I have also brought a delightful Barbaresco as the wine pairing,” Udo replied as he opened and poured the wine.

“Very nice, Udo. May I offer a toast?” Boris asked as he raised his glass.

Hank raised his glass and smiled.

Boris smiled slightly, too, waved his other hand to include Udo as well, (who retrieved a glass of water and raised it), and said, “George McDonald, a Scottish author, poet and minister, in the early 1900’s once said: "Friendship is better than wealth, to possess the love of a true heart (Boris looked at Hank), and the sympathy of a noble soul (Boris looked at Udo), is better than to be a desolate millionaire." Cheers to the both of you.”

“Cheers!” Said Hank and Udo as one.

“Please Sirs, enjoy.” Udo bowed and left the room.

Looking very pleased, both men began their dinner. Boris said, “Ah! Shaved asiago. Very nice…”

As they ate, their dinner small talk was not so small now. 

They discussed Hank’s plan for Boris’ renewed health which included his diet, his work schedule, his medicine regiment and exercise; all of which Hank would now manage personally and daily. Hank told Boris that he had already re-assigned his other patients to the other HankMed doctors, and that he decided he wouldn’t be taking on any new patients for quite a while.

Hank stated, with a confidence that was endearing to Boris, “I want to dedicate all of my medical skills to your needs only, and, this is also more personal for me now. I need time with you, and I think you need time with me, too.”

Boris smiled more widely than he had in a long while and admitted, “I am completely in your hands now, Dr. Lawson.”

The two men looked at each other differently than they ever had before and there was a comfort that they were beginning to experience with each other that they had not known before.

Boris also wanted to say other things to Hank, which probably would have shocked Hank, and Boris thought it best to keep those thoughts to himself, for now. Some of these thoughts were best left for a more intimate setting. He would indeed share them later with Hank, and keeping the excitement from his face, he looked forward to that time. Boris knew that there would be many times, very soon, when he would be strong and healthy again that he would be able to speak and show what was in his heart, completely and unreserved. 'Oh, to have that freedom – finally!' He thought to himself. It was simply too soon now, Boris felt, to share his deepest affections with his companion, Hank. 

Hank felt a thrill at Boris’ last comment, “I am in your hands now…” He smiled widely back at Boris. Hank wondered what their life together would be like now. Hank thought about the dream he had with Boris opening doors for him. Hank reminded himself that he would share the story of that dream with Boris someday. Hank also began to wonder what Boris’ skin felt like, under Hank’s hands, when it was its normal temperature; that thought surprised Hank. 

Later, towards the end of the meal, Boris asked with an open expression, “What are your plans for the rest of this evening, Hank?” And he took a sip of wine.

“Uh, yeah, that’s a good question, Boris,” Hank replied, not quite certain where Boris was headed with this, “You seem to be feeling a little better, that’s probably because you ate a larger portion of your dinner and the food has revived you a little bit. I don’t want you to push yourself though, remember what I said earlier about the times you will feel good and bad.”

Boris said, “In my current state, I am certain that you will not allow me to have an after-dinner port and cigar, otherwise I would invite you to join me in that,” He continued, “May I suggest that we enjoy some coffee, together, outside on one of the, eh, terraces within close walking distance to this room? It would be nice to get some fresh evening air. I may be able to walk a further distance than what my bedroom allows.”

“You’re right, port and cigars are out for the next few days. Coffee sounds okay, though. Um, Boris?” Hank asked.

“Yes, Hank,” Boris said.

“Gees, how do I say what I need, and want, to say, right now?” Hank offered.

“About what, Hank?” Boris asked simply as he looked at Hank with a receptive expression, in the hopes that Hank would feel more comfortable.

Hank sighed deeply and stared with some intensity at a lamp that was across the room. Boris waited patiently, watching him. Boris had had a good deal of practice waiting for Hank.

Hank, after a few moments, said, “You are still not well. You won’t be completely well for a while. I don’t want to leave you alone tonight; Boris, I actually don’t want to leave you alone for the next few days until there is some marked improvement in your health. This is my medical-side talking.” 

There was a long pause, then Hank continued, “Aside from that stuff, I also don’t want to be away from you - at all - right now, that is my personal-side talking. I mean, this isn’t our first date, you know, where I’d drop you off at your house by curfew time and then leave.” 

Boris smiled in his usual slight way, “I do not wish to be away from you either right now, Hank,” Boris replied honestly, “That is both the medical patient-side of me speaking, as well as my personal-side speaking. You are trying to request that you would like to stay here, with me, for a while, ja?” 

“Yes,” Hank said, somewhat shyly.

Boris reached out his right hand and placed it palm up on the table between them as if asking for Hank to give him his hand. Hank complied and Boris grasped Hank’s hand in a gentle grip, as he still wasn’t very strong. They looked at each other.

Boris, now serious, said, “You have always had a standing invitation to stay here in the main house of Shadow Pond, Hank, with me, whether you knew this or not. I know that I only offered you the Guest House, but that was because Evan is with you. I shall be honest with you, Hank, I do not want Evan staying in the main house, with us. Please forgive me, but I like to choose who lives in my home.” 

Hank nodded in agreement. 

Boris continued, “I see no reason why you should not be where you want to be, and if where you choose to be is with me, I would be very happy about that,” Now it was Boris’ turn to struggle with what he wanted to say next and it showed on his face.

“Are you ok, Boris?” Hank asked, slightly alarmed thinking Boris was taking a downturn; he squeezed Boris’ hand.

“Ah, nyet, eh, no, do not worry. I feel fine right now. This dinner gave me strength," Boris sighed, “I was just trying to put into words what I wanted to say next to you, now.”

“Open and honest, this is what companions are for each other, right?” Was Hank’s reply.

“Ja, that should be our motto? We need a good deal of practice at those concepts,” Boris said, and after taking a deep breath, he continued, “I am simply not accustomed to saying what I should like to say right now, but I will attempt to do this correctly,” Boris could not bear to tell Hank, at the moment, that he had rehearsed this part of his plan many times, and it always came out sounding perfect. Boris thought to himself, slightly annoyed, "Why am I so uncomfortable?'

It was Hank’s turn to be wait patiently now.

Boris looked into Hank’s eyes with his now darkened grey eyes; he tried to be gracious and noble, and said, “Please feel free to stay here, with me, for a long as you wish to do so, Hank. You know that there are many bedrooms to use as your own in this house, should you choose that way, but…” Boris’ heart beat faster, “You are always welcome to share my bedroom apartment with me,” Boris took another deep breath, “There is enough room in my closet for your clothing, and if you have things you wish to have around you, there is room in this house for them.”

They were still holding hands and their grips were a good deal stronger now.

Hank’s heart also beat very quickly and he felt joyful at the invitation, “You’re asking me to move in with you, Boris, right?” The moment Hank said this, he felt stupid.

“Ah, ja, I believe I am; did I not say it properly?” Boris looked a little distressed.

Hank chuckled, and so did Boris, and the release of nervousness made them both feel a lot better. They let go of their hands and each reached for something to drink. They also paused and then touched their glasses together in a toast of sorts.

Hank then said, “That has got to be THE most formal way, in the history of the world, that an offer like that was ever made! “

Boris blinked and looked at Hank with anticipation...

“Yes, Boris, I would very much like to come and live here with you. I don’t have much, so I won’t take up too much space,” Hank said.

Boris actually and fully smiled at Hank, and Hank was stunned for a moment. 'Oh God,' Hank thought, 'Boris is so handsome when he really smiles!' Hank felt thrilled at that moment; Did I just make him smile?'

Eyes now shining, an openly happy Boris said, “Please take up as much space as you want or need.” Then with a great deal of seriousness, which shook Hank instantly, Boris continued, “It is difficult for me to say this next thing, Hank. It is not something that one says often; however, may I ask that you, eh, please understand that I shall not be able to be as complete of a companion as I would desire to be with you, until my health is restored.”

Just then, Udo knocked once, came into the room and over to the table, “Is there anything that you desire at this time, Sirs?” Udo asked.

Boris and Hank looked at each other and chuckled. Hank nodded and said, “I understand, Boris. It’s okay, we’ll make time for everything eventually.”

“My dear Udo, thank you for this wonderful dinner, please give Chef my regards, will you? Do you see how much I have eaten tonight?” Boris said as he pointed to his plate and looked up at Udo.

“Very good, Sir! What may I do for you at this time?” Udo asked cheerfully; he noticed that something was very different with both of them. 

Boris said, “Dr. Lawson has allowed me to take a walk to one of the terraces, the West Terrace should be fine; we should like to take in the evening air, if it is pleasant, and have a coffee service there. How is the weather? When was I last outside, I cannot recall…“

Udo replied, “It is very nice outside, Sir. I will see to arranging this immediately.”

Hank said, “Let’s start walking now, it’s going to take a while for us to get to the West Terrace, wherever that is.”

Hank started to help Boris up, but Boris waved him off gently; Boris took a step away from the table and picked up the cane, then looked down at his feet.

“Hank, I need some shoes,” Boris said.

<[>“I’ll get them, stay here,” Hank said and he walked back to the Closet Room.

In Russian, Boris said, “Udo, my friend, it has happened, Hank and I are finally companions! He will be living here with me.”

With a gasp, Udo, smiled broadly, and replyed back in Russian, “Congratulations, Sir! I knew this would happen someday. I wish you both every happiness possible.”

Continuing in Russian, Boris said, “Thank you, Udo. We shall do our best to make him feel welcome and to feel completely at home here, ja?. There are some other logistics we will need to make arrangements on, but I will work with you tomorrow on this. I warn you, (nodding in the direction of where Hank was) he may be quite shy about all of this.”

“Of course, Sir, I shall take care of both of you.” Udo said proudly.

Hank returned with a pair of tan loafers, made of soft, calves leather with an Italian label, and said, “You have got some shoe collection there, Boris,” He placed them on the floor in front of Boris so that Boris could step into them easily. Boris did so, using the cane and the high back of the chair for balance, with Udo and Hank at the ever-ready to catch him.

“How do you feel right now, Boris?” Hank asked.

“I believe that I shall be fine. Let us walk.” Boris said, somewhat eager to see how it felt to walk for a distance.

Udo bowed and left the room quickly ahead of them so that he could get the terrace lit up and the coffee service prepared. The two men were alone again now, and walked across the large room to the Apartment doorway.

Boris stopped a moment after taking a few steps away from the table, and looked down at Hank. Then Hank stopped and stood there looking up at Boris. With some hesitance, Boris asked, “May I...embrace you, Hank?”

Hank smiled widely, thoroughly charmed by his formal-mannered companion, and threw his arms around Boris with great energy. Boris gasped with some surprise as the action caused him to exhale quickly. Hank held him so that Boris wouldn’t fall and then Boris wrapped his long arms around Hank in return, trying to match the strength of the embrace, but failing somewhat due to his weakened health. Both men closed their eyes and relished the moment completely. Boris, who was about three inches taller than Hank, had a different, yet pleasurable perspective of the embrace than what Hank experienced, but it was equally pleasurable for Hank. 

When he could speak, Boris whispered in Hank’s ear, “Do you just want to feel my ribs?”

Hank whispered back, “I could say that I wanted to hear you gasp, but I won’t, at least, not as far as you know,” (Hank suddenly wanted to come up with a personal nickname for Boris.) Hank pulled away slightly, and exclaimed, “Gees, you do feel thin! We’re going to change that. I need you to get your lean, strong, old-self back. Life for us is going to get really interesting!” 

Boris looked at Hank with affection and a gentle smile, “You could have stopped at ‘strong’. Be patient, with me, Hank.”

They started to release each other, paused for a moment, their hands on each other's upper arms holding on, both not knowing that their thoughts were the same: 'When can I kiss him?' Boris stepped back, but only slightly and started walking again, he felt stronger and happier inside. Hank felt very good about things now, too.

Coffee out on the terrace turned out perfectly and both of them enjoyed the time very much. The temperature was just right, except for a slight, and infrequent, cool breeze that would waft across them. Hank watched Boris for signs that he was getting chilled. The night was clear and the lanterns that Udo had lit cast an elegant glow across the immediate area.

Boris asked Hank, “Will you be going back to the Guest House tonight to retrieve some of your clothing and other affects to bring back here? I am concerned that Evan will bombard you with annoying questions. I am afraid that I shall not be able to walk there with you to, eh, protect you from him at this time. I have a vision that if we showed up there, together, Evan would take one look at me and fall silent and that would be better for you, ja?”

“Yeah, I was going to do that much later after we get you settled in for the night; I’ll try to sneak in and out without him noticing. I can be much stealthier than he is ever capable of being,” Hank replied, “I’d like to refresh myself at some point, too. If I bring some of my stuff back here, may I use your bathroom?”

“It could be our Bath Room, now, Hank, if you have decided to share my Apartment with me. You did not have an opportunity to specifically reply to my earlier question in that conversation. You can always take the suite next to mine, or down the hall, or across the house, if you prefer,” Boris stated with a curious, yet hopeful look at Hank.

Hank replied, somewhat amused, “Go big or go home, they say!” He raised his fist in the air, defiantly.

Boris tilted his head with a deeper, curious look at Hank as he held his coffee cup in mid-air between the table and his lips, “What does that mean?” Boris asked, he was confused.

“It’s an expression that you use to show that you are doing something all of the way, or nothing,” Hank defined.

“Ah, I see. We certainly have much to learn from each other,” Boris said, then taking a sip of coffee and returning the china cup to its saucer, he prompted, “So…”

“Yes, Boris! Hahaha! You have a roommate now!” Hank announced cheerfully, hands flying outward.

“Oh good lord, what have I gotten myself into?” Boris replied as his eyes rolled upward.

Sometime later, after a good amount of conversation between the two men, Boris said that he was feeling tired and admitted that he wanted to go to his bed to sleep. Hank had to assist him to stand and noticed that Boris was considerably weaker than earlier; Hank surmised that Boris had probably used up whatever energy Boris had gained during the evening. They walked slowly back to Boris’ Apartment; Udo followed. The Apartment had been cleared of dinner and the lights were set for the evening ritual of preparing to sleep. 

Hank couldn’t understand, at first, how Boris slept in such a large room. So enormous was the space by day with bright light; but when it was night, with the curtains drawn, and what appeared to be strategically placed lighting within the room, suddenly the room felt cozier. The lighting was only around the bed, and emanated from the Bath Room and the Closet Room, so the darkness in the rest of the room almost appeared to close in the space and make it feel very intimate.

Boris asked Udo to bring him his blue silk pajamas as he didn’t want to sleep in a suit, again. Both Hank and Udo helped Boris undress, refresh himself in the bathroom and then lie down in bed. Hank pulled the covers up to get Boris warm again. Udo placed the cane against the bedside table in a way that Boris could retrieve it easily if he needed to. Boris thanked Udo for his assistance and asked for breakfast (for two, while he looked up at Hank) to be served at 8 a.m. in the Parlor Dining Room. Boris wanted to walk further tomorrow. Udo bowed, said goodnight, and left the room silently.

Hank sat on the edge of the bed next to Boris and held his cool hand. They looked at each other fondly. Boris asked, “Are you now going to the Guest House? Will you return quickly?”

“Yup, I won’t be long. Its 11:30 and Evan is dead to the world. I can get in and out and be back here in a few minutes. I’d like for you to try and fall asleep now. You need your rest. I’ll be here when you wake up in the morning,” Hank said with a gentle smile.

Boris looked up at Hank and said, “I should like that very much. Please sleep here,” Boris turned his head to look at the other pillow on the king-size bed and Hank followed his gaze, “That divan, where Udo slept, will not be comfortable to you,” Boris paused and turned back to look at Hank, who looked at Boris, “If you get cold, there are extra blankets in the cabinet over there…”

“Boris, just go to sleep now, it’s all right, really,” Hank said chuckling. Boris then nodded once at Hank as he stood up, and he watched Hank walk out of the room and close the Apartment door quietly.

Boris laid there for a few moments listening to, and enjoying, the silence in the room. Snippets of thoughts moved through his mind, but he focused on none of them as he was so very weary and there was too much to process. He took a deep breath and smiled to himself. He then thought: 'What if I tried to stay awake so that I could greet Hank when he returns? Would Hank become angry with me or feel sentimental towards my action?' Boris fell asleep trying to decide...

In the meanwhile, Hank walked through the darkened house and marveled at how quiet and beautiful it was even at this late hour. He guessed he was probably being watched by Boris' security, but he didn't feel uncomfortable about this that night. Minimal lighting helped to illuminate the corridors and when he was nearly out the closest door that led to the Guest House, Hank met Udo. “Oh hi, don’t you ever sleep, Udo?” Hank asked quietly.

“Oh, yes, sir, I do. But not until He, and now you, are asleep. May I assist you with anything?” Udo asked.

“I’m going to the Guest House to get some things and bring them back here,” Hank paused, took a breath, then said shyly at first, “Boris has invited me to share his bedroom apartment with him. I want some fresh clothes and stuff, and I’m just sneaking over to get that. Hopefully, I won’t wake Evan. I’m not in the mood to face him right now. I’m tired and I’ll probably say things that I’ll wish I would have said differently, you know?”

“Indeed, Sir. Mr. Evan can be a handful at times,” Udo said plainly. “May I join you, I can be very quiet.”

“Yeah, I noticed that. Uh, sure, I don’t have much to carry, but just in case, I can use all of the help I can get right now,” Hank replied in relief. Hank suddenly thought that if they did run into Evan, Udo might also prove valuable in deflecting Evan’s curiosity, at least for the time being. 

Udo definitely proved helpful when they were confronted by Boris’ security night detail, whom they met en route to the Guest House, and the men were very curious about what was going on.

Surprisingly enough, Hank and Udo were able to sneak into the Guest House, retrieve a good number of Hank’s things without Evan noticing. Having Udo with him, proved to be very useful as Hank could now carry more of his stuff over than he would have been able to do on his own. Hank’s room looked even more bare now than before; Hank was not one to collect things, he always said that he traveled light. Hank had already brought his medical bag and laptop with him the other day so there were two less things to carry. Hank thought, ‘Boy oh boy, is Evan going to be confused and pissed at me!’

Hank even had time to leave a hand written note on the kitchen island which read:

‘Evan,  
All is well, really. I’m just going to stay at the main house for a while.  
I’ll explain later. Don’t worry about me.  
Talk to you very soon,  
Hank  
P.s. Boris is getting better.  
P.s.s. Thanks again for your help with the medical supplies and your patience.’

Hank and Udo went back to the main house, and were actually escorted, this time, by the night detail. The guards knew that Boris had taken ill and expressed a great deal of concern for him. Udo was able to console them, in Hebrew, asked them to inform the others tomorrow, and further explained that He was on the mend, especially now that Dr. Hank was to live here in the main house, full time. The guards were much relieved and their expressions were one of admiration; and each of them, there were four, bowed to Hank. He bowed in return, feeling really odd. Hank thought to himself, ‘What did Udo just say to them? Gees! How does Boris manage to strike fear in some people and then get absolute dedication from others?’

They entered the Apartment and saw that Boris was sound asleep. He had actually turned on his side and had drawn his knees up a bit closer to his chest. To Hank, Boris still looked tall even under the blankets and curled up like that. Hank suddenly came up with his pet name for Boris. Hank chuckled to himself silently and thought of how he would present this private name to his companion. 'Oh, he’s gonna kill me,' Thought Hank. 

Udo and Hank quietly placed Hank’s things, and hung up his clothing, in the Closet Room.

Hank whispered to Udo, “Thanks so much, Udo, for everything. I owe you a lot.”

Udo smiled and whispered back, “It is my pleasure Sir, please sleep well. Call me if you need anything. I shall come for both of you in the morning and escort you both to breakfast,” Then, Udo was gone from the room, the Apartment door closing silently behind him.

Hank sighed and stretched his arms. He picked up his t-shirt, sleeping pants, and travel toiletry case, and went into the Bath Room to wash up. He finished and turned the lights off in that room and in the Closet Room; which left only one small lamp on, he paused, at his side of the bed. That thought struck him hard, but hard in a very good way. 

Hank stood there looking down at the sleeping Boris. In the dim light, Hank thought that the weary lines on Boris’ face were a little less now; that was a comforting thought, ‘You are on the mend,’ Hank thought to himself. He climbed very carefully into the bed, pulled the blanket and sheet over himself, hoping against all hope that his movements wouldn’t wake Boris. He gritted his teeth. The king bed, luckily, did not transfer any of his movements and Boris continued to sleep. Deep and steady breathing made by Boris showed Hank that all was well for now. 

Hank was on his side and he faced Boris and then felt a comforting wave of affection for the man. 'This is really happening to me, um, to us,' He thought and sighed. 'It was so wonderful not to feel the fear,' As Hank had called it, any longer. 'Thank you, Udo.' With all of those thoughts, Hank, too drifted off to sleep.

~~~

Dawn came at 6 am the next morning; and Hank, having always been an early riser, was waking up. Sunlight was trying to peek around the corners of the draperies into the Apartment, and it gave the room a look in the study of contrasts. Hank’s eyes were still closed and he knew that he had slept well. He thought perhaps he could go for a quick, morning run before breakfast, maybe even before Boris woke up. Hank opened his eyes and saw Boris watching him from the other side of the bed.

“Ah!” Hank exclaimed.

“Good morning, Hank,” Boris said pleasantly in his usual deep voice and with a charming smile on his face. He had propped himself up to a lounge position, somewhat, and Boris, too, had not wanted to wake Hank with his movements in the bed, so he moved very slowly; which was really all that Boris could manage anyway. Boris had spent the last thirty minutes watching Hank sleep and had found a great deal of joy within that time. He admired Hank’s face, which was smooth and unlined, having the benefit of ten years less of aging then Boris had, as well as the stubble of a dark beard, and he grew instantly fond of the slight smile that Hank wore when he slept. 'Obviously,' thought Boris, 'Hank finds my bed comfortable as he is sleeping soundly.' Boris was very pleased at that thought. 

Rubbing his eyes, Hank said, “Uh, yeah, good morning, Boris,” Clearing his throat, Hank asked, “How long have you been awake?”

“Only perhaps for one half of an hour,” Boris replied. 

Feeling a sudden wave of courage, Boris leaned over, placed his right hand on Hank’s left cheek and jaw, drew him in closer, and kissed him with passion. Hank kissed back with equal passion. Their eyes were closed and when the kiss ended, Boris lingered a moment more just barely touching Hank’s lips with his own, before pulling away slightly so that grey blue eyes locked with blue eyes for a moment.

Feeling somewhat breathless, Boris said softly, “I have wanted to do that for so many years. Thank you for indulging me,” Boris then removed his hand and leaned back against the pillow.

Hank felt that every nerve in his body was on fire and that Boris was the flame thrower. He tried to say something, but had to close his eyes again and take a deep breath instead. Hank opened his eyes and found Boris still looking at him with a friendly expression on his face, and that familiar tilt of his head which happened whenever Boris was curious. Hank smiled back at him and said, “Oh, that was…uh…wonderful, no, thank you, Boris,” There was a pause as Hank gathered his wits about him and then asked, “How do you feel right now? I mean, medically.”

“Well, I know that I slept well and deeply, as I do not know when you came to bed in the night. I believe that I am still physically weak as moving these pillows about was quite a chore for me. Ah, and I have no pain,” Boris stated.

“Okay, good,” Hank sat up and was practically eye level with Boris. He moved and sat cross-legged on the bed facing Boris, feeling comfortable and confident, “I’d like to take your vital signs in a little while; this is going to be a regular thing now, you know. You have to remember to take your supplements and the medication with breakfast; that too, is now a regular thing.”

“I understand and will follow through.” Boris said and nodded his head once in agreement. Boris knew now that the time to be excessively stubborn with Hank was over and that they were now both doing things for each other on a higher level. He was careful not to use the words ‘obey’ and ‘comply’, as he had in the past, as he instinctively knew that Hank would become agitated, which Boris most definitely did not want to do, again, if he could prevent it. Last night, their confrontation in the Closet Room was painful and Boris was relieved to know that he had not ruined anything. Boris had to remember that things were vastly different now. He was sharing his life with Hank and it wasn’t business or duty that required them to work together, it was something infinitely more powerful.

“What other plans do we have for today?” Boris asked.

“I think that you will feel a little better today, so if you can manage it, you may want to take time to bathe after breakfast, and we’ll walk around the house as much as you are able. I think your staff would like to see you out and about. They are worried about you. By now, Chef knows that you’ll be eating 3 meals a day, I know, I know…” Hank held up his hand in response to Boris starting to say something, “We have to keep your energy up and put some meat on your bones again. Please, Boris, work with me. I’ll be happy if you eat even a little bit at each meal. I have instructed Udo to re-schedule all of your meetings until next week. Yes, next week. Business can wait. WE are taking this first week together to really get your health back on track. Trust me, please. I would have preferred something else as well, but this is the way it is and as I said, you are in my hands now. And, even if you become the slightest bit tired today, you’re going down for a nap. Dr. Lawson has spoken,” Hank had said all of this with a gentle smile on his face and an affectionate expression. 

“All right then. I seem to recall that you enjoy running in the morning, were you planning on doing this before breakfast?” Boris asked.

“Yeah, actually I was thinking of taking a run. Would you be okay with that? I’ll only run for 30 minutes and then be back here and we can get ready for breakfast,” Hank suggested, wondering if Boris had read his waking thoughts, or more likely, Boris had watched him run in the mornings and knew some of his habits.

“I shall be fine; a question though, Hank, if I felt well enough to get up and to care for myself, and move about the Apartment, would I have your permission?” Boris asked simply.

Hank smiled at Boris and said cheerfully, “I’m so happy to hear you ask that. Yes, but you just HAVE to promise me that if you feel dizzy or weak, that you’ll sit down immediately to rest - even if it means sitting on the floor. I say this because I don’t want you falling and breaking a bone. You are THAT weak now.”

“I promise, Hank,” Boris said solemly.

Hank got out of bed at that point and went to find his running clothes and shoes. Hank said to Boris, as he dressed in the Closet Room, “Udo was really helpful last night and we were able to get the lion’s share of my stuff out of the Guest House without Evan knowing.”

“Bravo, Hank!” Boris exclaimed; he was relieved that they didn’t meet Evan. Telling Evan, and the others, of what was now happening between himself and Hank was the next order of business for them, and Boris had developed some ideas which he wanted to speak to Hank about during breakfast. Boris had been always in favor of transparency, when it was absolutely necessary, and to do so in a quick manner, had always eliminated many problems.

Hank came out into the Apartment ready for his run. He smiled at Boris, “Thirty minutes. Be careful, okay.?”

“Ja, please enjoy your run,” Boris replied.

Hank went out of the door, closed it behind him, and jogged out of the house and down into the Formal Gardens where he enjoyed the fresh cool air in his lungs. While Hank ran, he planned the ‘pet name’ presentation to Boris and found it difficult to laugh and run at the same time.

Udo saw Hank start his run, as he watched the doctor from a window in the house, and for a moment wondered if he should check to see if the Master was all right. If Dr. Hank felt free to exercise, then all was most likely well and he decided to give Him time to himself; 'Besides,' Udo thought, 'He may still be sleeping.'

Boris laid on the bed lounging for a while. He was still weak, but pleased about all that had happened so far. He closed his eyes a moment and relived the kiss he had given to Hank. Boris sighed with contentment...something that had eluded him for so long. He then decided to try and visit the Bath Room on his own. This took a lot longer than he expected and he quickly became frustrated. Using the cane, and anything else he could grab onto, he had finally finished and washed, and stood in the doorway of the Bath Room, holding onto the door frame so he wouldn't fall down, his cane hung from the crook of his arm; he still wore his pajamas, and also now an angry expression when Hank returned to their room. Boris hoped that he would have been back sitting on the bed by then waiting for Hank to return and help him to dress for the day.

“Uh, Boris, what’s wrong?” Hank asked, still sweaty and breathing heavily from the run, he grew concerned and went up to Boris quickly.

“It appears that I have set my expectation too high for my health,” Boris said with a clipped voice.

Hank stood in front of Boris looking up at him and didn’t say a thing, he just listened. Hank was slowly learning when not to provoke Boris with comments or questions when he got like this.

Looking down into Hank’s eyes with an intense gaze, he said with a resigned tone, “I do not feel that I have made any improvement. I know, Hank, I am being unreasonable.”

Hank continued to be attentive and quiet and his presence appeared to calm Boris. Hank then tried to cheer Boris with his best wide smile and bright eyes and said, “I’d hug you, but I’m sweaty,” And Hank peeled his moist shirt away from his chest, “See?”

Boris couldn’t help then but relax, but he did not smile at Hank. He lowered an arm and took the cane into one hand and began to walk, pushing off from the doorframe, his motions tight and forced. Hank followed Boris as he walked to his bed side, sat down with a huff, and then stared out at something across the room.

Hank debated with himself – should he say something else or go shower? 'I really need a shower,' He thought.

As if Boris read his thoughts, Boris said, less angry now, but still not looking up at Hank who stood near him, “Please go and shower if you desire, Hank. There are fresh towels in the Bath Room for you there.”

Hank nodded and walked into the Bath Room and pulled off his shirt in one motion. Boris looked over at Hank as he walked away and found that he greatly appreciated the view of the doctor’s strong back muscles.

A while later, Hank came out of the bathroom with a smile on his face and with a towel wrapped around his trim waist, and he rubbed his wet hair with another towel, “That shower was really nice!” He exclaimed.

Boris had managed to sit in an upright chair that was near the bed and was more at ease now. He was reading a book and looked up over his reading glasses at Hank. Boris liked what he saw, “Showers can become somewhat of a religious experience at times, ja?” Boris commented and then removed his glasses.

“Oh yes! I agree. How are you feeling, Boris?” Hank now asked. 

“I have calmed down, thank you for tolerating my attitude. I just realized that you shall need a bathrobe of your own, although the towel suits you. I will add that to the list of things which I will need Udo to arrange for you, for your added comfort here.” Boris said.

“I’m good, Boris, no worries. Remember me? I travel light,” Hank said with a smile. Hank blushed slightly at Boris' compliment, but kept moving so that he could hide it from Boris.

Boris continued, “Hank, please allow me to, eh, spoil you. Just even a little bit, perhaps; it would make me, infinitely happy to care and provide for you.” 

Open and honest…

Hank smiled and nodded, as he walked into the Closet Room, “Yeah. I’m going to get dressed and then we can get you dressed, okay?”

“Yes, thank you, Hank. I will attempt now to wash up,” Boris said as he placed the book and glasses on a side table; he stood up stiffly using the cane and the arm of the chair. He made good progress this time and was pleased. Boris then walked out of the Bath Room and into the Closet Room, where Hank was half-dressed and looking for something. 

Hank said, “I need to take some time this morning to get my things organized here, maybe after breakfast, while you’re bathing.”

Boris leaned in the doorway, arms crossed at his chest, his cane hanging again from the crook of his arm, simply watching Hank; he enjoyed what he saw, and said, “That is a fine idea, Hank. The side of the closet where your new suits are can be your side of the closet, if you wish it to be. I shall ask Udo to have some of my things re-arranged to the other side. You shall have ample room. Ah, the domestic side of life…”

Hank put on a collared shirt, tucked it into his trousers and finished dressing with a belt, socks and shoes. 

Boris had started to walk into the Closet Room, still looking at Hank and said, “You look very nice, Hank.” 

As Boris sat on the bench now and faced the triple mirror, Hank came over to him and was behind him and on his left side, placing his hands on both of Boris’ shoulders. Boris held onto the cane handle with his right hand as the cane was on the outside of his right leg, his left hand on his left knee, his feet and legs slightly apart. They looked at their reflections in the triple mirror. Boris’ expression was serious and noble - as was his normal mannerism, and Hank’s expression was cheerful and clever - as was his normal mannerism. 

It was very quiet and the depth of the domestic side of their situation was pleasantly overwhelming to both of them. Boris suddenly had a thought that he should like to capture this pose at some point and made a mental note to contact a painter and arrange a commission. 

Boris raised his left hand, which had rested on his left knee and brought it across his chest to rest on top of Hank’s right hand on his shoulder and said, “I am very glad you are here with me, Hank.”

Hank said, “I’m very happy to be here with you, Boris.”


	4. Reaction, Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time now for the others at HankMed, to learn what is going on…  
> …life has to be complicated or it wouldn’t be any fun, right?  
> It’s the world against Boris and Hank.

“A lot of things happen in this closet room of yours, um, I mean, ours, Boris,” Hank admitted.

“It was not like that until you got here,” Boris confessed.

The two of them had been looking at their reflections in the triple mirror, Hank squeezed Boris’ shoulders, and all at once, Boris stood up and turned around with unexpected energy. Hank had been already standing, and then Boris and Hank embraced. And a fierce embrace it was. It was as if their lives depended upon holding onto one another. Then they kissed each other in an epic movie way that left them both breathless.

Afterwards, “Did not we just come in here to get me dressed?” asked Boris.

“Uh, yeah, I thought so, too. We’re going to be late for breakfast and Udo’s going to be really ticked at us,” Hank said.

They blinked and smiled at each other, and Boris sat back down on the bench.

They spent the next few moments, quickly choosing and gathering Boris an outfit, and then Hank helped Boris to dress. When the time came around for Boris to change his undergarment, he nearly chuckled out loud because he felt so self-conscious. Boris thought to himself, 'Where in Hades’ realm is this shyness coming from?!' Hank noticed this sudden bashfulness and turned away quickly as if he was really interested in the ties that Boris had bought him. Boris noticed this kind gesture.

Hank helped Boris finish dressing, smiling broadly, and announced, “We look good!” 

The two of them slowly walked out into the bedroom, Boris leading Hank, to find Udo entering the Apartment and ‘good mornings’ were offered all around. 

The walk to the Parlor Dining Room was a challenge for Boris, but he forced himself through it. 'Damn large house,' Boris thought. He had decided that if he did these things: eat more of his meals, and take his new medications as instructed, and just push past the weariness, plus now having Hank at his side, all of this would be, what Hank had called a way to ‘jump start’ Boris back to health. Little did Boris know that Hank’s version of ‘jump start’ wasn’t on quite as aggressive of a time frame as was Boris’ version. Boris was eager to begin his new life with Hank and did not want anything to get in the way of that, including himself.

But breakfast in the Parlor Dining Room was simply wonderful: a finely appointed table, fresh flowers, a comfortable temperature, sunlight was flooding into room through the sheers that covered the many tall windows there, as well as the fact that there was delicious food. Both Hank and Boris took great pleasure in their breakfast that morning and all of the frustrations of the day before had brought them to a new level of appreciation of each other’s company.

Boris had already been enjoying these elegant moments, as it was how he had crafted his life to be; but, he was always alone in his enjoyment. Now that Boris could share this with Hank, there was a brief moment, during breakfast when Boris thought he actually felt joy; he kept that powerful moment private. 

Boris also made a somewhat big show over taking his new medication and supplements with the meal.

The conversation turned to business, their business, and how they should best communicate their new situation to the people who really should be informed. This was big; really big, Boris and Hank both knew that some of the people would take the news in vastly different ways than others. They talked about how to minimize the shock, as they assumed it would be a shock (it had surprised the two of them, somewhat, when it finally happened, so one would think…) and they truly didn’t want to cause anyone any degree of unhappiness. But in the end, they decided that it simply wasn’t possible to minimize anything about this. Boris and Hank decided that their guiding forces would be for the both of them to be open, honest, and confident. 

The two men were discovering, too, through their conversations, they had a lot more in common than what they had first thought. They agreed that it was intriguing for them for learn this and also wondered aloud (but with light hearts) about when they would have their ‘first big fight’.

They talked about preparing themselves to receive the less-than-positive reactions to their situation. Boris didn’t even bring up the finer, potentially destructive details of how the different factions of his family would respond. Not everyone would be considerate and just accept things as they had now become. There was family history and protocols that were being broken. Boris decided to tackle this when he was stronger, as the initial plans he had made had included how to handle negative family attitudes and situations.

Then, Boris said, quite plainly, “Hank,” He paused, “Just wait until your father hears about this.”

“Oh, crap,” Was all that Hank could say, and then he started to laugh - loudly and hysterically. 

Boris looked at Hank as if he had never seen Hank laugh so hard, which he hadn’t. Boris couldn’t help but smile, but also became a little nervous, and hoped that Hank wouldn’t pass out due to the lack of air. Hank had trouble catching his breath.

Udo was poised to call in the paramedics to care for the hysterical doctor, and was also ready with a glass of water. 

Udo and Boris just shrugged their shoulders as they looked at each other. Udo said quietly to himself, “At least he is happy.”

Hank finally calmed himself and looked at Boris with a red face, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“I told you that I can be funny sometimes, this is one of those times?” Boris asked with all sincerity.

Hank started laughing all over again, though, thankfully, not as hysterically. His chest hurt.

Breathing hard, Hank put out a hand indicating he needed to stop laughing. Boris looked at him with an expression of innocence; “I was just stating the obvious,” Boris said.

Udo brought Hank the glass of water.

After breakfast, Boris and Hank slowly walked back to 'their' Apartment. Along the way, they met a fair number of Boris’ staff on duty that day, each busy with his or her daily tasks, and everyone expressed great relief to see Boris up and moving about again. Boris was very much the noble patriarch in his home of Shadow Pond, and one that commanded complete devotion to him and to the good of house. His staff, he knew, would protect and serve without question and in return, Boris provided well, protected and cared for them.

The staff greeted Hank very warmly (Udo had discreetly notified the staff so that they would be prepared for this change), and sincerely, too, and they all made offers of assistance whenever he needed it, even more so than ever before; he felt good and very welcomed, but slightly on display. ‘Whatever!’ His mind screamed at him,‘Enjoy this, it’s your new life!’

“You know, Boris,” Hank was thinking and they continued to walk as he spoke, “I have an idea about something for your staff.”

“Oh?” Boris asked as he concentrated on walking.

Hank said, “This is just an idea, Boris, and you don’t have to decide on this now, or right away. Let’s just say that at some point in the future, I could become your Shadow Pond House Physician and care for your staff, as well as for you. You know I like to help people and it might be really good to have someone in-house providing all of their medical care. Maybe even set up a Shadow Pond Infirmary just for your staff; I could work with Hampton Heritage for the tests, medicines and equipment that I would need. Perhaps there is even a room in this house that could be dedicated to being the Infirmary. Just thoughts…” 

His arms had been moving about, as they usually did when Hank spoke and Boris really did enjoy watching him become animated, especially when he was passionate about something.

“This is quite an intriguing idea, Hank…” Boris was smoothing his circle beard as he pondered this. He stopped walking and looked at Hank for a moment. “Please allow me to contemplate this, will you?” And he began walking again.

“Great, Boris! Thanks for considering this.” Hank said looking up at Boris and smiling.

They reached their Apartment and closed the door. Boris said, as they walked into the room and over to the Bath Room, “I think I should like to bathe now, as you had suggested earlier.” He stopped, leaned against the Bath Room doorway, the cane hanging from his arm again; this new mannerism seemed to be so much a part of him now. Boris looked at Hank, thinking for a moment, Boris said, “Would you agree that the safest thing for me to do would be to soak in the tub, rather than wash in the shower? I suddenly have visions of slipping and falling, and those visions are not pleasant. The walk has been quite taxing. At least, in the bathtub, I would already be sitting.”

“That’s a very safe idea, Boris,” Hank replied, smiling, “I’ll draw your bath if you give me instructions as to how you like it, or I can just call for Udo.”

“It would be very kind of you to draw my bath, Hank, thank you,” Boris replied as he led Hank into the Bath Room.

Boris leaned against the vanity, set his cane to his side up against it and removed his jacket. Hank reached over the tub to the faucet controls and turned them on. The tub was a very modern version of a Japanese soaking tub.

“Oh, there is a temperature gauge here,” Hank said, with surprise, “Uh, oh, it’s in Celsius, um, what temperature do you…” He trailed off.

“I am fond of 30 degrees usually; but since I feel chilled, would you be so kind as to increase that by three degrees? I would like to feel warmth again,” Boris said quietly.

“Ok, uh, 30 degrees, what is that in Fahrenheit? Oh, wait, here’s the setting, 85 degrees, I see, all set. There is a bottle of something over here, uh,” Hank read the label and said, “Indian Sandalwood Essential Oil.”

“Just a capful is all that is needed in the water, Hank. I find that sandalwood is quite soothing and has properties in it which helps one to be centered. It is often used in meditation practice. The oil also keeps…” Boris paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that he was sharing a great deal of his personal bathing habits with Hank and felt unusual for doing that.

“The oil keeps…” Hank said prompting Boris to finish his sentence and tried really hard to keep a neutral expression on his face. He found Boris very charming when he was caught in the act of being less stoic.

Boris then announced with a mixed expression of discovery and mischievousness, “Ah, the oil helps to keep my skin soft, which goes well with my girlish figure!”

“Boris! You just made a joke!” Hank exclaimed.

After Boris had removed and hung up his jacket, he leaned over to take off his shoes and socks (which he placed neatly together near the vanity on the floor,) then un-tucked his shirt and started to unbutton it, Boris said, “Please do not chide me on my protruding ribs, Hank, I know they are there. I promise that you will see improvement soon.” 

Hank nodded but remained quiet and attentive.

“The water is ready now,” Hank said looking and pointing at the temperature gauge.

Boris removed his shirt and hung it up on a bronze hook that was on a nearby wall within reach, along with his jacket. Boris began to unfasten his belt buckle and his trousers which he let slip down his hips and long legs.

Hank asked gently, “Would you like me to leave the room, Boris?”

Boris, looking downward, and was now removing his trousers from around his feet, said, “No, Hank, it is fine, I suppose that we shall need to get over our school boy nerves at some point. You are now going to see me naked, as I should like to see you someday. We shall remember these tentative moments and laugh, ja?” Boris stood there, leaning again the vanity, holding onto the edge with both hands, wearing just his undergarment, and he looked at Hank with a serious face, “You are also my doctor and there is nothing about me that you do not know about, now. I shall also need assistance to get into the tub. Please.” 

Boris then removed his undergarment, folded it neatly and placed it on top of his socks and shoes; Hank came over to hold Boris’ upper arm and help guide him from the vanity and down into the tub. Boris stepped carefully, “Thank you, Hank,” Boris looked at him and smiled slightly.

Boris’ naked body was now in full view for Hank to see: broad shoulders and chest, a flat abdomen, properly endowed, straight hips, a sleek backside and long tapered legs. Hank suddenly had a very nice picture of Boris’ long legs entangled with his own, he felt a thrill. Hank blinked hard and had to work to focus on getting Boris into the tub carefully. As he helped Boris down into the tub, Hank thought that Boris still looked painfully thin and felt an immediate sense of worry, both as Boris’ doctor and as his companion, but he didn’t show that concern to Boris, it would not have helped the matter.

Boris eased into the water without slipping and the look on his face was one of complete relief, as the warm, scented water enveloped his body. Boris did not hide the fact from Hank that he was experiencing a type of bliss by sharing this expression. Boris then said, looking up at Hank, “This, like your shower earlier, is a religious experience,” Boris closed his eyes and leaned back.

Hank sat there on the edge of the tub, watching Boris relax, and kindly said, “Is there anything I can get for you right now, Boris?”

“Well, I do not suppose that a cigar is in my health plan at the moment, so, no, there is nothing needed. This warm water is absolute heaven. This is the first time that I have been warm in many days,” Boris opened his eyes and looked up at Hank and continued, “I know that what I am about to say, borders on tremendous sentimentality, Hank, so please forgive this old and frail man for saying so, but, thank you for your help,” He smiled and his eyes were bright in the Bath Room light.

Hank looked down at Boris and smiled back, “First, you could have stopped at ‘sentimentality’. ('"…old and frail…" my ass,' Hank thought to himself), and second, I’m glad to help you, Boris,” After a moment, as the men looked at each other, Hank continued, “I’ll leave you to soak and I’m going to be just out there, organizing my stuff and my clothes, is that okay? The lights are awfully bright in here, is there a dimmer?” He said looking around.

“Ja, there is,” Boris, said as he lifted a long arm out of the water and his elegant hand pointed to the wall by the doorway.

Hank got up, walked over to the wall switch and turned the lights down by about a third, “Is this good?” he asked. 

Boris nodded his head, closing his eyes again and leaned his head further back on the wide edge of the tub.

Hank stood there a moment and admired Boris’ strong jaw line.

“Do you prefer silence, or can I still talk to you while I’m putting my stuff away?” Hank asked politely.

“Silence has filled most of my days before you came to me, Hank. I would, eh, greatly enjoy having conversation and banter with you during these types of daily life activities,” Boris said. The warm water had made him, what he would have called ‘defenseless’. Hank could have asked for anything, anything in the entire world at that very moment, and Boris would have made certain that Hank would have received it on a gold platter.

Hank walked out through the doorway and into the Closet Room to begin his ‘moving in’ organization. He and Boris chatted loudly (as one of them was in one room and one was in the other) about the closet – one side had already been cleared to make room for Hank’s clothing and personal items. Hank said, “There’s a lot more room in here than I’ll ever need!”

Boris replied, “You may grow into that space. Give it time.”

Twenty minutes moved onward and Hank was still working with his 'stuff'. Hank heard Boris moving about in the water, thinking that Boris was just changing his position in the tub, and called out, “Are you okay in there?”

“Ja, quite,” Boris said. Boris was actually getting out of the tub by himself, taking great care not to fall by using any and all means possible to him – he wanted to surprise Hank. Boris was successful and was soon standing on a soft rug, naked and in front of the vanity, toweling his body dry and he held onto the edge of the vanity to keep him upright. Boris began to brush his hair, and wondered if Hank would look at him with eyes not as a doctor, but as his companion, and find him appealing.

Hank said, from the other room, “You know, I may have to go clothes shopping – my stuff is really worn out!”

Boris experienced a singularly masculine reaction when Hank said the words ‘worn out’. Boris sighed and smiled at the reflection of himself in the mirror and said quietly to himself, “Worn out, hmm…perhaps I am not as weak as I feel.” He shook his head, closed his eyes and waited for the very pleasant moment to pass. 

Boris then retrieved a dark copper, silk lounging robe and trousers from another hook on a wall; he slowly put them on and left the robe open and loosely tied at his slim waist. He picked up and used the cane as he walked out of the Bath Room and over to the Closet Room to lean against its doorway. The cane was then again hanging from his arm and he had both arms crossed in front of his chest, in true Boris fashion, and he watched Hank with amusement.

Hank was very busy and didn’t see Boris standing there at first; nor did Hank hear Boris; but then noticed Boris’ reflection in the triple mirror and it made him jump. Hank spun around and exclaimed, “Ah! You got out of the tub by yourself!”

“Ja, and I did not injure myself, either,” Boris said smugly.

“You look refreshed,” Hank said as he moved closer to Boris.

“I feel as so, however, I am weary,” Boris replied.

“Yeah, a hot bath can do that to you,” Hank said.

Boris turned around and moved the cane to his hand to use it as he walked, “I am going to take nap now,” He announced. Boris walked over to his side of the bed and sat down. The bed had been made and he intended to just rest on top of the decorative cream-colored comforter.

Hank followed him and brought along the cashmere blanket, which he spread out over Boris, after Boris had settled into a prone position with his head on the pillow. The silk robe was still open at his chest somewhat. Hank sat on the side of the bed next to Boris and reached up to further adjust Boris’ pillow. Boris was all settled in now and they looked at each other with tenderness. Hank placed his hand on Boris bare chest at his heart. Hank felt Boris’ soft chest hair, which was liberally sprinkled with silver and grey, and he moved his fingers gently thru it. Boris placed a hand gently on top of Hank’s hand there.

Hank said softly, “I still can’t get believe this has happened to us, you know. It’s like a dream. My life has never been so…different.”

Boris replied, “I shall endeavor to always make our life a pleasant dream for you, Hank; although, be prepared and forewarned, my life has also its fair share of nightmares. Know that I shall always try to protect you from those nightmares and keep you safe from harm,” Boris smiled warmly, continuing, “Would you be so kind as to hand me the book and my reading glasses?”

Hank got up to retrieve both items from the side table and came back to sit on the bedside as before, “What are you reading?” He asked as he handed the book and glasses to Boris.

“A book of French poetry,” Boris replied.

“In French, I see,” Hank said.

“Of course,” was Boris’ reply and he WAS trying to not sound too smug, again.

“I also enjoy reading Japanese Haiku, but I must read the English translations of those works, as I have not picked up Kanji completely and fluently, as yet. I read Haiku when I am in a, er, how do you say, severe mood. I do prefer French poetry, it is considerably more…passionate. Would you like me to read you a short poem, Hank?” Boris asked.

“Yeah, I would actually,” Hank said but not know what to expect. 

Boris saw his trepidation and assured him, “I shall read it out loud first in French and then in English, so you may appreciate the language nuances,” Boris put on his reading glasses and turned pages in the book to locate the poem he wanted to read to Hank, “Ah, here it is, it is called ‘L’Eternite,’ or ‘Eternity,' by Arthur Rimbaud.”

Boris read the poem in French, his voice deep and fluid. He finished and smiled at Hank.,“Now in English:”

“It’s found we see.  
What? - Eternity.  
It is the sun, free  
To flow with the sea.

Soul on watch  
Let whispers confess  
Of the empty night  
Of the day’s excess.

From the mortal weal  
From the common urge  
Here you diverge  
To fly as you feel.

Since from you alone,  
Embers of satin  
Duty breathes down  
With no ‘at last’ spoken.

There’s nothing of hope  
No entreaty here.  
Science and patience,  
Torture is real.

It’s found we see.  
What? – Eternity.  
It’s the sun, free  
To flow with the sea.”

Boris looked at Hank as he removed his glasses and smiled slightly, his eyes locked on Hank’s eyes trying to discern what he may be feeling. Hank smiled at Boris and leaned in to kiss Boris lightly, but they both get caught up in the moment and it became a much deeper kiss. 

Hank pulled away and said in a whisper, “Boris, I’ll be the sun and you can be the sea. Now sleep well; I’ll be here, and quiet, and I promise that I won’t disturb you.”

Hank stood up and with another glance at Boris, walked to the Bath Room and closed the door.

Boris sighed deeply, closed the book and put it and his glasses on the night table. He shifted slightly on the bed and closed his eyes quickly falling to sleep.

 

A nightmare gripped Boris: he is struggling with enemies and he calls out for Hank both in his dream and in real life. 

Hank sat at the table reading emails on his laptop and jumped up and raced to Boris’ bedside. Boris is sweating and thrashing around, his face contorted in pain and the blanket is tangled around him. Hank held Boris’ head with both hands and said forcefully to try and wake him, “Boris! I’m here!”

Boris jolted awake, his eyes wide with terror as he looked around and then finally focused on Hank’s face. Breathlessly, Boris said, “I will not let them take you away from me!”

Hank grabbed Boris by wrapping his arms around him and pulled him up to a seated position, and held Boris to his chest. It was many moments before Boris began to calm down; his body then became less rigid and he slumped against Hank in exhaustion; Boris laid his head heavily on Hank’s shoulder. A few quiet moments pass, and Boris began to breathe more evenly. Hank slowly released Boris and guided him back down to the bed.

“Are you okay?” Hank asked softly with complete concern.

Boris looked at Hank, his mind full of too many thoughts and raging concerns, and there is a wave of anger building as well – anger at the outside world. Hank sees this battle on Boris’ countenance.

Udo knocked once and peeked into the apartment – he saw them and sensed that something is wrong. Hank looked quickly back to Udo and shook his head vigorously. Udo retreated and closed the door silently. (He had come to announce that lunch was ready.)

Hank is truly concerned that this event has now forced Boris to slide somewhat backward down further into the depression. This was too acute of an emotional attack to be of any good. Hank decided that if he can get Boris to open up about what he experienced, they may be able to reverse the negative effect. Hank repeated his question a little more sternly with the hope to jar Boris out of the mental struggle. 

Boris blinked, took a deep breath; and said, “Ja, I will be now; you are here with me.”

Hank suggested, “We need to talk about this thing you just experienced right now, tackle it head on, okay? If you let it sit in there,” His finger tip touched Boris’ forehead gently, “You will not get well,” Hank knows that all Boris wants to do is get well.

Boris nodded and asked, “I would like to get up; may we go sit in the sunlight over there?” He pointed to the cozy and sunny seating area at the far end of the Apartment near the small dining table. 

Hank helped Boris up from the bed, and Boris took up the cane; the two men walk over to the sunlight. Boris sat down immediately in the sunnier of the two seats; he closed his eyes, and lifted his face upward, which allowed the sunlight wash over him as if he was trying to purge the evil of the dream from himself. Boris still clutched the cane with both hands. Hank moved the other chair closer to Boris’ chair and sat down; Hank then placed his hand on Boris’ knee.

“Tell me what happened,” Hank asked with a tone which told Boris that needed to provide Hank with an answer.

A small sigh and Boris said, “My enemies, who were in the form of life-size, black, chess pieces were attempting to pull you away from me. They were beating on you to force you to submit and come with them, and I was mustering an army to prevent that. My army consisted of the white chess pieces, of the same size, but I also had the pawns which the enemies did not have.”

“So you were winning the battle?” Hank asked hopefully.

“Not yet, when I awoke,” Boris said, “You were on the ground rather bloodied and trying to protect yourself.”

“Well, I had to wake you, Boris, you called out my name, you were sweating and twisting around - I had to wake you so that you wouldn’t injure yourself,” Hank offered.

Hank decided to share what he thought what the dream was about - it wasn’t medical science - but it just seemed to be reasonable to Hank, “Can I share with you, what I think your dream meant?”

“You have a medical point-of-view?” Boris asked.

“No, this is just a Hank point-of-view. I think that what has happened with us is so enormous to you, that you are afraid it will go away. After years of waiting for something to happen, and by that I mean me finally getting it, your life is evolving to the way you have wanted it to be and because it is, uh, different than what is expected of you, and you’re fighting to live your life the way it needs to be lived – your way. Your mind is trying to process and organize all of this. Does this make any sense?” Hank explained.

“Ja, in the clearest way imaginable,” Boris hung his head.

Hank got up from the chair and came to kneel in front of Boris; he placed both of his hands on both of Boris’ knees and looked up at him. Boris raised his head to look at Hank with haunted eyes. 

“I knew this would happen. You, Hank Lawson, have become my dearest and most absolute treasure, I will not lose you,” Boris said, “I can only hope that I can become even a fraction of that to you.”

They smiled at each other with genuine affection.

Hank said, “I’m not going anywhere but where you go. Okay? No more nightmares about this, gone!” And he waved a hand in the air.

Boris looked around and said, “Where is Udo? Usually when I am in distress, he brings me a glass of water.”

“I’ll bet he is just outside the door…” Hank said and stood up, squeezed Boris’s shoulder with one hand and walked over to the Apartment door. Opening the door showed that there was Udo, waiting dutifully to be summoned.

Udo and Hank talked briefly and in quiet voices; but Boris’ extraordinary hearing could pick up what they were saying and the door to the Apartment was only slightly open. When Boris heard the word ‘lunch', he actually felt relief and realized that he was hungry. Hank came back, smiled and said to Boris, “Hope you’re hungry.”

Udo brought in lunch a few minutes later, it was soup. Boris didn’t usually eat soup, but it was Hank’s idea to introduce comfort food, like soups and stews, into Boris’ diet. Boris drew the line at chili, for some reason, beans were not favored at all by Boris.

Lunch was set up in the Apartment, and served and everyone was surprised at the end (including Boris) when Boris actually finished his entire bowl of chicken soup. He delighted in the chunks of carrots and thick noodles. There was much discussion over this and it was determined that Boris would have soup more often from now on. In spite of the ‘Nap Gone Wrong’ (as Hank had named it, trying to lighten the mood), the afternoon progressed rather nicely.

 

During a walk outside, in the formal gardens later in the afternoon, Boris asked Hank, now that he was settled into their Apartment, if there was anything he needed. Boris suggested to Hank to feel free to work with Udo to get anything, anything at all, (Boris emphasized ‘anything’) that Hank needed or even wanted. Using a term that Boris’ attorneys used once during the Garner Family incident in New York (where they threatened to have Hank’s medical license removed), Boris told Hank that it was “blue sky” from now on.

Hank kept a watch on Boris for signs that the nightmare had left some more deep seated damage on him, but so far, the trauma was temporary. During the hour-long walk, Boris had to only sit down twice to rest..he was slowly improving. 

 

Much later that evening, during dinner back inside the house, and in the Formal Dining Room (it had turned too chilly outside and Hank refused to let Boris go outside again for the remainder of the day), Boris and Hank discussed the luncheon idea they had formulated to ‘share’ with the HankMed team their life changes. 

Boris also wanted to personally thank each one of them for taking on Hank’s other patients and express his appreciation for their concern of his health. Boris and Hank decided that in two days, they would host the luncheon in the Parlor Dining Room and invite everyone at HankMed for the ‘big reveal’, as Hank nervously called it. 

Boris insisted that he handwrite the invitations himself and he would do that the next after breakfast, he told Hank that as it was just another one of his habits. 

After dinner, when Boris and Hank enjoyed some port (granted by Hank as special permission) – but no cigar - and were comfortably seated in the Library of Shadow Pond, Hank received a text from Evan, and Hank read it out loud: 

“Evan says, "So, dude, you don’t love me anymore?"” 

Boris chuckled deeply and sipped his port wine. 

Hank rolled his eyes and said, “Just what am I going to do with him?” As he pointed to his phone.

Boris refrained from making a comment, he was tired and the day had been long; and then he suggested, sincerely, that Hank visit Evan for a while in the morning to smooth things over. Boris further suggested that Hank might want to bring Evan pastries, bagels, a roast or whatever Evan enjoyed. Boris said that there should be something in Chef’s kitchen that would be more than sufficient for a food-laden apology. 

Hank thought that it was a good idea, too. Then, Hank thought, 'Wait a minute, Boris just said I should bring Evan a roast? Huh?'

Hank texted Evan back and he still read it aloud for Boris’ sake: 

“"I still love you, Bro, I’ll be over tomorrow morning about 10 am."” 

Hank looked at the phone's screen and said, “Evan just replied: "Great, see you then, and just what the hell happened to your bedroom?"” 

Boris and Hank looked at each other; Boris tilted his head.

Hank didn’t answer that text.

As the men walked back to their Apartment, they agreed that it had been an interesting day. Boris thanked Hank for his help again, especially with the, "What did you call it Hank? The nap-gone-awry?"

They got ready for bed and enjoyed this domestic act because they were simply together, all was quiet in the house, and they had eaten their meals together and talked; they had made plans and Boris was on the mend. Boris was extremely weary at this point, he was cold again, and his motor skills had slowed. Hank knew that Boris needed to sleep soundly the entire night and made certain that Boris was very comfortable with an extra blanket.

Hank had considered giving Boris a sedative, but then thought against it. Boris seemed to not react well to sedatives, the grogginess after he woke up was debilitating.

The last thing that Boris remembered before he fell into a deep sleep was that they were together, he was being cradled in Hank’s arms, his head on Hank’s chest, and that he could feel Hank’s body warmth through the pajamas. Boris listened to Hank’s even breathing and a tough day ended for Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz.

~~~

Running in the gardens of the Shadow Pond estate before dawn was an exercise in: ‘Always notify the security detail first’. Imagine Hank’s surprise when he was confronted by four of Boris’ ex-Mossad body guards at daybreak, with guns drawn. After all was said and done, everyone shared a very hearty, yet slightly uncomfortable laugh.

Hank had wakened very early to find that he was spooning Boris which, to Hank, was a very nice thing to wake up to. Boris slept so soundly that Hank had to make sure he WAS still breathing. Hank slipped out of bed, changed into running clothes and headed out on his run.

After making friends with the security detail, Hank returned to the Apartment only to find Boris still sleeping. He was curled up even more than before and his skin was still cold to the touch. Hank went and found yet another blanket which he carefully drew over Boris’ sleeping form, with the hope that he would not to wake Boris.

When Hank finished his shower and dressed, he finally went to wake Boris. With a start, Boris opened his eyes and then focused them slowly on Hank.

“Good morning, Boris,” Hank offered cheerfully.

“Is it morning, already? I believe I have just laid down to sleep,” Boris said somewhat confused.

“Nope, it breakfast time!” Hank said in a happy tone.

 

After Boris and Hank shared breakfast, which was served in the Apartment, because Boris didn’t feel like going to the dining room to eat, he asked for Udo to bring him his stationary and pen set. He set about to personally write the invitations for the luncheon set for the next day afternoon at 1 pm.

Hank went to the Guest House to visit with Evan. He steeled himself for an onslaught of questions from his brother. Hank decided on bringing a whole basket full of food from the main kitchen with which to make a brunch for them both. 

The visit actually went well; Evan wasn’t too nosey about Hank’s business; but Evan did make an observation that Hank was somehow very different. He couldn’t put his finger on it, he could only say that Hank didn’t appear to be so “distracted and looking like a lost puppy”. Evan really thought that the group - when they found Boris playing the cello - had almost killed Boris by scaring him to death, and Evan felt very bad about it. The ‘scavenger hunt’ to the find the source of the music had actually been Evan’s idea. So, for the time being, Hank ran with, and took advantage of Evan’s remorse. Hank stayed at the Guest House with Evan until about 3 p.m.

Boris had finished the invitations and gave them to Udo to have them delivered. Boris took his lunch alone, in the Apartment, and told Udo that he needed solitude. Boris actually needed solitude as he kept thinking about that nightmare and its implications. Boris didn’t eat very much, but not because he wasn’t hungry; this time it was because that he was alone, again. He tried to cheer himself up by reminding himself that Hank would return soon and he lounged on the divan, which was bathed in soft, warm sunlight. He gathered up the cashmere blanket, poetry book and glasses and got settled in to read for a while.

A while later, Hank walked in to find Boris asleep on the divan. The book was open on his chest and the reading glasses still on his face. Hank looked fondly down at Boris, then carefully removed the glasses and the book. He kissed Boris lightly on the forehead and walked away quietly to let him sleep a little while longer. Hank went to the closet to look for something. About 15 minutes later, he heard rustling and poked his head out of the Closet Room. 

“Hi, Boris!” Hank said with a smile.

Boris had just awakened, was sitting up on the divan, running his hands through his hair, looking around for his book and glasses, “Hi, H-Hank!” Boris replied lightheartedly, but absently.

Hank came back over to the divan and sat down next to Boris, “How was your nap?"

“Uneventful,” Replied Boris gratefully, then he asked, “How was your visit with Evan?” 

“Better than I thought…a basket of food from the kitchen helped and I’m riding on his guilt that he thought they had killed you,” Hank said.

“Oh good lord…” Boris replied and shook his head, “Well, at least his curiosity has been suppressed until we can formally announce our situation.”

Hank asked, “Would you like to take a walk? It’s nice outside.”

Boris replied, “No, I would like to go for a swim.”

“Not yet, you will get chilled as the pool water is probably much cooler than your bathwater,” Hank stated.

“Ja, then a walk will suffice,” Boris replied with disappointment.

They went for a long walk around the Lower Gardens of the estate, which was a great deal farther than Boris had walked in a long time. Boris told Hank that his appetite would be primed for dinner, admitted that he didn’t eat much for lunch, and looked forward to dining with Hank. 

Boris did eat quite well at dinner and Hank was very happy about that. He knew with the long walk and the somewhat heavy dinner (beef stew) that they had eaten, Boris would sleep soundly again that night. He would need all of his strength for the luncheon and whatever was going to happen during it.

~~~

They both woke up the next morning, at about the same time, feeling refreshed and they prepared for the day. Hank admitted to Boris that he was nervous and Boris managed to say (as it was difficult for Boris to admit this) that he was experiencing apprehension, as well. Boris wanted to be strong, at least for Hank’s sake. 

“Remember Hank, this may not go pleasantly,” Boris said. He paused and then continued, “This is essentially your family that we are making our announcement to. It will be (and he was looking for a diplomatic word to say)…eh, considerably overwhelming when my family is informed. I heard you use a word once when describing your brother being extremely upset about something…what was that word?” 

“Oh, yeah, he had a meltdown.” Hank replied and nodded his head.

“Ja, Hank, when my family reacts to news of ‘us’, the meltdown will be so great that parts of Europe will be lucky to survive it,” Boris stated hoped deep inside that would not be the case, however futile the hope appeared to be.

“Oh,” Was all Hank could say. Then Hank thought, 'Why does life have to be so complicated?'

 

At 12:30, Boris and Hank waited in the Parlor Dining Room for their guests to arrive. A typically beautiful table was set and Boris was seated in a chair by the fireplace with Hank standing next to him. Within the new few moments, the HankMed members were escorted in and announced. They all looked slightly uncomfortable at this formal entrance. 

All of them noticed how Boris was seated in somewhat of a regal setting by the fireplace, with Hank by his side. Boris was very straight-backed, chin up, with both hands resting on the cane which was between his legs. Both Boris and Hank were wearing different colored, light-toned suits and shirts – as it was the late spring and because this was a luncheon, they wore no neck ties. 

As the HankMed team entered, they saw that Boris hadd started to rise from his chair and that he most definitely needed Hank’s assistance.

Hank was thinking about the emotional and psychological toll that this must be taking on Boris; he felt a lot of that toll himself.

Boris and Hank, slowly walked to meet the group; Hank stayed very near to Boris. As everyone came together, there were greetings made all around. Boris smiled and was very cordial to every one of them. He thanked them for coming and hoped that they would enjoy the luncheon. “Please let us be seated,” Boris offered and waved a hand in the direction of the dining table.

As everyone got settled, Hank was seated to Boris’ right, and the wine was poured. Boris, leaning heavily on the table, stood up to make a toast. He waved off Hank’s motion to help with a smile directed only at Hank. Everyone raised their glasses. Boris was calm as usual and began in his deep voice, “Please accept my gratitude for your understanding of this situation, my appreciation of your concern for my health, and for your patience.” Boris then looked at each one of them, as he had on the night they had discovered him playing the cello, but with considerably more of his usual cool, calm and powerful confidence. Boris continued, “To Your Health.” He raised his glass higher and everyone offered “Cheers”!

After a lively lunch, which had a good deal of animated conversation in it, it was -after all- the HankMed team, and they were always talking. Evan needed to say something and got everyone’s attention by loudly clinking on the lead crystal water glass with his metal teaspoon. Evan said, “Hey, Boris, I gotta clear the air here…I’m really sorry that we just barged in on you like that. Uh, and then when you got sick, we thought we had killed you. We’re really sorry about all of that and hope that you won’t take it out on us… OW!” 

Divya hit Evan in the upper arm, which promptly made him pout as he rubbed the now sore spot on his arm.

Divya said cheerfully, “No Evan, don’t be silly; WE didn’t think WE killed Boris, YOU thought YOU killed Boris,” She grinned and shook her head at Evan.

There was light laughter all around the table.

Boris replied graciously, “Well, thank you, Evan. In any case, no one has killed me, at least not yet. I was already on a downturn of health and the fact that all of you arrived upon my situation provided Hank (Boris looked at Hank) with an opportunity to begin to…heal me. Shall we all adjourn to the seating area for a digestif?”

Evan blurted out, “A what?”

Jeremiah stated, “A digestif is an alcoholic beverage served after a meal, to aid digestion.”

“Oh, yeah, okay, sure!” Evan replied.

Divya reached out to hit Evan again, but he dodged it.

They all rose from their chairs, and began to move towards the seating area. A silver tray had been placed on a low, ornate table in the center of the area. On the tray, were tiny, bright crystal glasses filled with a bright yellow Limoncello wine. 

Boris, still needed Hank’s assistance, and rose more slowly than the rest. There was a look, and a mannerism, that went between Hank and Boris which was caught by Divya’s keen eyes and she looked at both Hank and Boris. In a sudden flash of insight, she understood what really was really happening. Her eyes widened. She smiled at Boris and Hank widely, and nodded her head slowly. They both nodded slowly back to her, Hank’s smile was very broad.

“Divya has figured it, and us, out,” Hank said quietly to Boris, as he helped him to rise.

“Ja, I see that. Well, at least we have one person in our camp,” Boris replied equally as quiet.

In their luncheon planning session, Hank had insisted to Boris that he be the one to tell the group. HankMed, and of course, Evan, was his ‘family’ and he wanted to take the responsibility. Boris understood and agreed. Boris suggested that they also be on the alert for, and quickly neutralize, any attitudes that would accuse Hank of taking advantage of an elite member of society. Boris said that this is the reality of the world and his family wwould excel at doing just that. 

Hank helped Boris to settle in on the chair he had been sitting in by the fireplace, but only after Hank kicked Evan out of that chair.

Udo came and served everyone the Limoncello. Udo remained in the room, but silently, by the doorway, hands clasped in front of him; his expression was proud and circumspect.

Hank went to stand at Boris’ right side, Boris had his right arm resting on the arm of the chair, and Hank stood in such a way where he was in physical contact with Boris’ upper arm with his leg. Hank did not want to be anywhere but by Boris’ side and Boris was extremely grateful for this.

Divya caught this, too, of course, and smiled warmly at both of them. Hank smiled back, Boris bowed his head slightly and nodded once to her.

Hank stood tall, and was confident and calm; he cleared his throat and said, “Another reason why you were invited here today is that Boris and I have something we’d like to share with all of you.”

Boris was silent, and scanned the group while Hank spoke, his left hand on the cane. Boris was so very proud of Hank and he took a deeper breath and hoped that no one noticed.

Divya’s eyes were bright and moist; she was so happy for them.

Hank continued, “Things have changed for Boris and I, and changed for the better, too. Now, you know that he and I have known each other for a number of years now, and well…we have discovered a new and very important aspect of our relationship. I will be living here at Shadow Pond with Boris…we…are together now,” Hank then smiled broadly at all of them.

Boris lifted his chin a little higher feeling proud and strong, despite his physical weariness.

The silence was deafening.

Smiling, Divya was the first to speak. In a choked voice, she said joyfully, “Congratulations to both of you! I wish you to be forever happy together!”

“What?! Is that why…?! And you…?! And then…?! But…?!” Evan stammered loudly as his eyes bored into Hank’s. Evan tried to do the same to Boris, but just couldn’t hold the gaze against the man he feared most in the world. Evan continued, “Really, Bro?!”

Hank replied calmly, “Yes, really, Evan.” But Hank was no longer smiling.

Evan said, “I’m just gonna have to think about this.”

Hank replied, now quite angry at Evan’s insensitivity, “How about you start by just taking a breath and be happy for me, for once?”

Boris remained silent; he had lowered his chin and leveled his gaze at Evan while he watched Evan with a wary expression.

Evan replied, shaking his head, “I don’t get this…”

Just then, Eddie Lawson, flanked by two of Boris’ guards, burst into the room and asked, “Don’t get what, Evan?” In his usual, false and flamboyant manner.

Boris had placed a standing order than whenever Eddie Lawson arrived on the Shadow Pond property, he was to be surrounded at all times by at least two guards. Boris had not ordered his men to physically restrain Eddie, as that would have created other issues which Boris would later have to explain to the local authorities. So, this intrusion was handled as the result of Boris’ respect for the local law; Boris would have preferred to have his security physically eject, and not gently, Eddie from the house. Boris’ hand moved slightly on the handle of the cane, thinking of the dagger inside.

“Dad?!” Evan and Hank said at the same time.

“Hi, everyone! I was just in town and wanted to say hello to my sons!” Eddie announced, waving his arm wildly and coming over to Evan, who was closer to him, to pat him firmly on the back. Eddie saw Hank, not smiling and standing right next to Boris; Eddie took a step forward and then thought it better that he should stay right where he was next to Evan. Eddie’s smile faded somewhat, he stared at Hank, and asked again, more sheepishly now, “Uh, don’t get what, Evan?”

Evan replied, “Dad, um, well uh…” And then just blurted out, “Hank and Boris are an item now!”

Boris’ expression to Eddie was cold, very cold. He had wanted to be more gracious for Hank’s sake (and as Boris’ upbringing would have required him to be courteous at all costs, especially since dueling had been outlawed), but Eddie had always created great problems wherever he went, especially when he was on Shadow Pond property. Boris was poised to protect Hank, even from his own father.

“What are you talkin’ about Evan?” Eddie asked very confused and very aware that he had walked into a very uncomfortable situation.

“Dad, listen, Hank and Boris are…a…couple…now,” Evan repeated slowly.

In typical Eddie-fashion to get out when the situation wasn’t in his favor, he said, “Ok, well, this was fun,” He clapped his hands once loudly, and smiled his best charlatan smile, asked, “Boris, where are your guards, I would like to leave now and go and think about this.” 

As if out of thin air, the two guards (who had never left the room) quickly flanked Eddie once more as he turned around and left the room with great speed.

Evan said, “How can this be real?!” And raised a hand up in the air.

Jeremiah then said, in his usual calm, yet always hesitant voice, “Evan, it is illogical for you to think that simply because Hank and Boris are both male that they cannot form a bonded relationship. Humans have a propensity to bond with the most likely mate depending on the immediate and long-range needs of both partners.”

Evan turned on Jeremiah, who winced at Evan’s sudden movement in his direction. Evan said sharply to Jeremiah, “What?!” Then doing a poor job of copying Jeremiah’s mannerisms for a brief moment, said “…it is illogical…” Evan continued, “Jeremiah, who are you, Mr. Spock?”

Jeremiah looked down at the floor and shrugged his shoulders.

Hank said loudly and sternly, “Evan, stop it! You’re being a real jerk!”

Evan threw a hand up in the air again, then put it on his head in sheer frustration, turning around in his place and said, “Yeah, this has been fun. Thanks, Boris for the lunch and whatever this is,” Holding the crystal glass up in the air and then placing it down roughly on the tray, “I’ll talk to you guys later,” Evan then stormed out of the room.

There was finally peace and quiet in the Parlor Dining Room.

Divya then came up to Hank and Boris, and Hank assisted Boris to stand in her presence. She touched both of their arms, at the same time in support, and said sweetly, “Congratulations, you two. I am very happy for you both. And yes, it was a lovely lunch. I’ve got patients to get back to, please excuse me. Thank you,” She smiled at them catching their eyes and started to walk out of the room.

“Wait up, Divya, I’ll go with you,” Jeremiah said as he looked after her. She stopped, turned, and waited for him. Jeremiah then turned back to face, and came closer to Hank and Boris. He nodded at them and smiled a very shy smile, and said, “I congratulate you both and wish you great happiness. I always thought that there was something about you both…uh, well, best of luck.”

Boris and Hank nod at Jeremiah and he walked away to meet up with Divya. Boris and Hank watched as they walked out of the room.

Udo had also left because he wanted to make sure that Eddie had left the main house. Udo had followed Eddie, and the guards, out the door, saw Eddie to his car, and watched him drive away.

 

Boris and Hank now stood alone in the Parlor.

Hank said, “I need a drink.”

Boris said, “Me, too.”

Boris moved to sit down, and does so a little more forcefully than he had intended as his legs had just given out. Hank is right there and he knelt in from of Boris, and placed his hands on Boris’ knees.

“Are you okay?” Hank asked.

“It is only a wave of weakness,” Boris replied quietly.

“Don’t worry, Boris,” Hank offered confidently.

Both men looked at each other and sighed.

“Done,” Hank said plainly.

“For now,” Boris said wearily.

“Can I ask Udo to bring us those drinks now?” Hank suggested.

“Ja, please,” Boris replied, and then asked, “May I have a cigar?”

“No.” Dr. Hank replied.

Hank stood up and began to go and find Udo who was just coming in the entrance of the Parlor. They discussed beverages and the need for some privacy and then Udo left to take care of the details. Hank returned to Boris, who is now looking out across the room, lost in thought. Hank sat down in a chair adjacent to Boris and placed his hand back on one of Boris’ knees.

A few moments later, Udo brought them their drinks, he nodded and then left respectfully.

Both companions are quiet for a very long time, as they sipped on their cocktails. Hank began to remove his hand from Boris’ knee, but Boris grasped it before he pulled it away and squeezed Hank’s hand. Hank returned the grip. The men looked at each other intently and offered each other a small, all-knowing smile.

“This was…very difficult,” Boris admitted, “I am very proud of you, Hank. Each day, you show me that what we have become is right and true,” He continued, “I must tell you that your struggle to accept this about us was natural and only made me worry that I was wrong to pursue it, even thought I felt it to be true. The worry caused me to become unhealthy and I threw myself into my work and other activities, to pass the time and wait for you. Then, you came to help me and everything changed. In spite of whatever happens next, I will always be glad that I waited for you.”

“We survived our first ‘trial,’ didn’t we? I think we did well because we did it together. That is how it should be, you and me together. Would you like to go take a long walk with me, Boris? Do you feel up to that? I think the fresh air would do us a world of good,” Hank asked carefully.

“May we take a short walk and a long sit outside?” Boris asked quietly.

“Of course we can, Boris, together we can do anything we want.” Hank replied cheerfully.


	5. Recovery, Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a storm, there is harmony and a cleansing;  
> And there is a chance to repair what was damaged and regain strength…  
> To prepare for whatever is coming their way next, Boris and Hank recuperate.

Hank tried once, two weeks after the luncheon, to re-open communications with Evan; but Evan asked Hank, with a cruel tone in his voice, on top of a disrespectful comment, “Sooo, Bro, what’s Boris like?” Hank hung up the phone on Evan.

Hank was very upset for several hours after that call. He couldn’t believe how Evan was behaving. He paced for a while and then told Boris that he needed to go for a run. Boris understood and told Hank such. Boris also told Hank that whenever he wanted to talk about anything, Boris would be ready and most willing to listen. Hank went on a long run that afternoon, and Boris sat reading, waiting patiently for Hank to return. 

(Because Hank had been gone for a longer time than was his usual) Boris did, at one point, ask Khalil to check on Hank via the Shadow Pond surveillance cameras. They located Hank on the property and he was safe. Sometimes Hank was running, sometimes he had found a place to sit and it was obvious that he was thinking.

Afterwards, when Hank had returned, showered, and changed, Boris gently asked Hank if he would like to sit with him in the Library and just ‘be together.’ The Library, the Meditation Terrace and their Apartment were the most private areas for them in the main house. Those areas, plus two, small outside areas, did not have audio or visual surveillance.

Hank agreed and during the next hour, over the coffee service that Udo had brought them, Hank ranted about Evan and his ridiculous, insensitive, and hurtful behavior. It wasn’t like Evan to be this harsh. Boris was an attentive partner and listened, responded in kind, and let his beloved companion vent. 

Hank’s eyes were dark and brooding and he was very unhappy. When Hank finally sat down on the couch in the Library, Boris got up from the chair in which he was sitting in, came over to Hank and sat down next to him. Boris wrapped his arms around Hank in a comforting embrace. 

After a while, Hank finally calmed; his body, once rigid with anger had begun to relax and Hank leaned back into Boris, allowing Boris to further surround him with his long arms. They were both quiet and all was quiet in the Library. Boris held Hank for some time and their coffees grew cold, but they didn’t care. Hank sighed deeply and felt completely drained. Boris felt a deep sadness for his companion.

“Thank you, Boris, I feel better now. I guess I needed to get this out of my system,” Hank admitted.

“You are welcome, Hank. I shall always be at your beck and call,” Boris replied, still not wanting to say too much and possibly re-ignite Hank’s frustration. Boris continued to hold Hank and then he whispered into Hank’s ear, “No matter what the world throws at us, we are together.”

Hank relaxed further into Boris’ embrace.

 

Boris had developed a plan to try and bring the brothers back together. It pained Boris greatly to see Hank haunted by the hurt that Evan had caused. Why had Evan become so brutal to his brother? Boris decided that this might be a good time to offer his suggestion of reconciliation to Hank. Another reason that Boris had, was that he wanted to begin the preparations for the birthday party which he had wanted to host for Hank; Boris had not told Hank about the party plans yet. Boris wanted Evan to participate in the birthday celebration, simply because he knew it would please Hank immensely.

Boris really didn’t care how Evan felt, or even what Evan thought; Boris knew that Evan simply needed to grow up and act like a man – for his brother’s sake.

 

Also since the luncheon, Divya and Jeremiah had visited Hank and Boris on a couple of very pleasant occasions, one time the visit was over lunch, and the other time was for wine and cheese; but Divya and Jeremiah did this without Evan’s knowledge as they were honestly afraid of his meltdowns.

 

Hank agreed to Boris’ suggestion to mend the rift. Boris still did not say anything about the party to Hank just yet, as it was part of his overall plan. Boris had security determine when Evan had returned that day to the Guest House and at 4:30, Hank and Boris walked there; they declined an offer of a guard to join them, although they did agree to be shadowed from a discreet distance, as they felt that Evan would react negatively to this; Boris knocked on the door. 

Boris’ strategy was that if they met Evan in a place where he felt comfortable, then Evan would not go on high defensive and refuse to communicate. They could actually repair the situation together – all three of them. Boris also felt that if Evan was invited to the main house to meet with them, Evan simply would not come. 

Hearing the strong knocking on the entry door to the Guest House, Evan opened the door and was surprised to see Boris standing there. Evan could not see Hank, as Hank was standing off to one side and behind Boris, as planned.

Boris said cordially, “Good afternoon, Evan.”

Evan warily replied, “Uh, yeah, hi, Boris.”

Boris continued, “May we talk?”

“Um, I’m not sure about that,” replied Evan.

Evan had not yet invited Boris to enter the Guest House, which to Boris, was quite rude, considering the Guest House belonged to Boris and Evan was merely the tenant. Boris chalked this up to, ‘how did Hank say it? “Par for the course.”’ 

Silence. Evan started to fidget a bit and just kept glancing at Boris.

Boris then asked calmly, still standing outside the doorway, hands clasped in front of him on top of the cane handle, “Are you well?”

“Yeah, I guess,” was Evan’s response, he looked away. “Why are you here, Boris?”

Now going directly to the point, Boris stated, “This disagreement that is between the…three…of us, is disturbing to everyone at Shadow Pond. It is not healthy for any of us to feel this way. I should like to talk about it with you in the hope that we can repair this rift. May I have a few moments of your time?”

“Uh, okay,” Evan said and walked away from the still open door.

“May I come in?” Boris asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Evan waved his hand.

Boris slowly walked into the Guest House, Hank walking in behind him, closing the door behind him. Evan looked up and saw Hank.

The brothers just nodded to each other. Silence.

Boris then suggested, “Perhaps we should sit down, yes?”

The three men walked over to the long kitchen table; Boris took a seat at the end, leaning his cane against the table; Evan took a seat to his right and Hank to his left, but Hank took one seat down so that he wasn’t immediately across from Evan.

Once settled, Boris began to speak quietly, even though he truly wanted to throttle Evan with his own bare hands because of the hurt Evan had caused Hank. “Evan, first off, please accept my sincerest apologies for anything which I may have done to create any angst for you. Second, I acknowledge that is situation is very different than what you thought possible. We, (Boris waved an elegant hand between himself and Hank) have also experienced the same…surprise…with this difference.”

Evan had been looking intently, and fingering, the table top in one spot, and when Boris said the word “different,” Evan looked up at Hank, and then at Boris. Hank was still silent, his eyes dark, yet his expression was hopeful, almost pleading.

Boris continued now, and looked at Evan with an expression of genuineness, which Boris hoped would capture Evan’s gaze and not make him look away in fear or nervousness (as was Evan’s usual tendency whenever Boris looked at him at all.) Boris kept Evan’s gaze and said, “Lastly, please know this, Evan…I shall always care for Hank to the best of my abilities and I do have great ability to that very thing; Hank is everything to me now, and you shall not have to fear for him…with me.”

Evan then looked down at the table again and sighed somewhat dramatically.

Silence. Boris and Hank exchanged glances; each man trying to give the other a reassurance.

Evan blinked and looked up from the table directly at Hank and asked, “Bro, is this permanent?” Evan pointed a finger at Boris.

Boris ignored Evan’s rude manner, once again.

Hank now spoke for the first time since they entered the Guest House; he gently replied, “Permanent, like a heart attack, Evan.”

Evan then said, appearing to want this uncomfortable conversation to end somehow, “I never, ever thought anything like this would ever happen.”

Hank spoke sincerely, “Evan, I’m happier now than I have ever been in my whole life. Please accept our situation; we are not doing this to hurt anyone, especially you. Please be happy for me. I’ve never asked much from you, Evan. I’m asking you now for this: your understanding and acceptance. Boris means the world to me; he is my world. You and I, Evan, we’re always going to be brothers – that is our world, and we’ve always been there for each other, right? Nothing will ever change that. Please, Evan.”

Evan stood up and walked over to the refrigerator, opened the door and stared into it for a few moments.

Hank and Boris looked at each other, silently, and patiently waited.

Evan asked, “So Bro, you and I are still ok? I mean, still brothers?”

Hank replied, “Of course, Evan. Again, that’s not ever going to change.”

More silence, as Evan stared into the open refrigerator. Hank stated, “In or out, Evan.” 

(It was a familiar phrase that Hank had used nearly every day with Evan, because Evan always left the refrigerator door open for longer than anyone should.)

Evan replied, “So, who’s going to tell me to close the refrigerator door, now that you’re living with Boris in the main house?”

Hank said, “I think you can do that all by yourself, Evan. I have faith in you.”

“Do you guys want something to drink?” Evan asked.

Hank replied, “I’ll take a beer, Evan, thanks.”

Boris replied, “A glass of water for me, please. Thank you, Evan.”

Evan took two bottles of craft brew from the refrigerator, uncapped them and placed them on the kitchen table; then he prepared a glass of water for Boris and set it on the table as well. Evan sat down again and, looked at both of them and sighed.

Evan raised his beer bottle, the movement followed by Hank and Boris simultaneously – they exchanged surprised looks. Evan then said, “Thanks for putting up with me; I know that I’m a piece of work sometimes. I still cannot believe this is happening. Ahem! To my brother, Hank, and his…partner…Boris, congratulations – please be happy. “

“Cheers.” All three men said together as one, but with a serious tone.

“I’m still gonna need time to get really used to this, you know, Hank,” Evan said.

Hank tried to cheer Evan up, “I know, take all the time you need, Evan.”

Boris then said, “Thank you, Evan; I greatly appreciate your consideration.” He paused, “And, I shall be hosting a birthday party for Hank in two weeks time…”

Hank and Evan both blinked in surprise and looked at Boris.

Continuing, Boris stated, “May I assume that you, Evan, will be able to join us in the celebration?”

Boris then looked fondly over at Hank and smiled, momentarily and purposely forgetting that Evan was even in the room with them. Hank returned the smile at Boris. “We shall be finalizing the details soon, and I wanted to make certain that you would be first on the invitation list.”

Evan watched Boris smile at Hank and Hank return the smile; Evan rolled his eyes and said, “Watching the two of you make goo-goo eyes at each other is gonna take a lot longer to get used to.”

 

On the walk back to the main house, Boris and Hank took the long way through the gardens. Boris led Hank to what appeared to be a very private area in the vast garden. Boris looked around and announced, “We are not in camera range here.” He turned quickly and embraced Hank, which of course, turned into a kiss.

Looking up at Boris, Hank said happily, “Thank you, Boris, for helping me with Evan.” Hank smiled and asked, “You’re really going to host a party for me?”

“Yes, you should begin to think about what you would like your party to be like.” Boris suggested quickly as he had wanted to put this Evan-issue behind them.

Hank said, releasing Boris from his hold, “I feel so relieved about Evan! I’m sorry he was so rude to you. I could tell that you were ready to jump at him.”

Boris replied, “Hmmm, yes…well, your brother is…a unique fellow, yes?” This was all that Boris would say. Hank was happy now and that was all that mattered. Boris felt that Hank didn’t need to know the level of anger that Boris had been harboring inside himself, against Evan. Boris knew that he would have to come to grips with this anger someday…if only for Hank’s sake.

They were now sitting on a stone bench in the garden, some ways away from the blind camera location. Boris took them briskly away from that spot and moved them to this more camera-visual location. Boris knew that the security team, if they didn’t see Boris for any given length of time, would rally the troops for what would be a false alarm.

“I should alert you, Hank, as well, that this party may draw some extra attention to…us…as we may end up being a ‘page six’ sensation. Are we prepared for this?” Boris asked.

“Probably not,” was Hank’s reply, he smiled confidently at Boris and continued, “But, I don’t really care who knows about ‘us.’ You and I are what we are; and besides, people are going to find out sooner or later.”

“Perhaps you are correct, Hank; ja, this IS the Hamptons.” Boris suggested.

 

Discussion at dinner that night turned to the planning of Hank’s birthday party. Hank was very excited and very grateful to Boris that he had created this event just for him. Hank wanted to invite his brother, Evan (of course,) everyone at HankMed, a good number of the staff from Hamptons Heritage and many of Hank’s former patients, and everyone’s significant other. 

When Boris asked what kind of food Hank wanted to be served, Hank replied enthusiastically, “BBQ!” Boris offered that there could be live music performed at the party, as opposed to recorded music played by what Boris called a “disc-playing-jockey,” and Hank was thrilled. Boris told Hank that he would make some arrangements, but would not tell him what the details would be.

“You must allow me to present you with some type of surprise during your birthday gathering, Hank; please, indulge this old man.” Boris stated. 

Hank replied, “You could have stopped at ‘indulge’ and, listen, Boris, would you just cut it out with the ‘old man’ stuff? It doesn’t fit you at all!”

 

Boris had learned, a few weeks prior, that one of Hank’s favorite types of music was that which was performed by the group called Steely Dan. Boris had then contacted Mr. Walter Becker and Mr. Donald Fagan, the original core members of the group, and negotiated with them to play for Hank and his guests at Hank’s birthday party. Boris offered them not only Shadow Pond accommodations for them and their entire crew, and a sizable commission for their performance on the night on the party, plus a generous donation to a humanitarian cause of their choice. Boris was quite pleased to have been able to secure this surprise for Hank.

Boris had invitations professionally prepared for Hank’s birthday event and those were mailed out the next day. Udo kept track of the guest list.

By hiring a caterer proficient in the cooking of BBQ-style food, Boris was able to give Chef Henri and his team, as well as most of the Shadow Pond staff (except for security) a night off and an opportunity to attend Hank’s party as well. Boris did instruct his staff to be ever vigilant, as always, so that every guest would remain safe and have a ‘good’ time.

Boris also hired a respected Hamptons’ party planner (who passed the Khalil security check,) who worked with Udo and Khalil to make certain, in Boris’ words, “that the event would be completely perfect.” Boris stated that he would not tolerate, nor accept, any deviance from what he wanted no matter how slight the detail was.

After many days of preparation, all of the plans for Hank’s birthday party fell into place.

The musicians and their crew arrived the day before the event and were accommodated secretly in the wing opposite of Boris and Hank’s Apartment. Boris had kept the news of the band’s arrival a complete secret from Hank. Boris felt quite thrilled at this surprise he had planned for Hank. Mr. Becker and Mr. Fagan met with Boris, in secret that afternoon, while Hank visited Evan in the Guest House. 

The two musicians were very impressed with Boris’ cordiality, as the sense that they had of the elite of the Hamptons was: selfish and annoyed with everything not of ‘their level.’ Boris restated to them that Hank greatly appreciated their music and their performance would be a complete surprise to him. Boris also invited the musicians and their crew to also to enjoy themselves at the party, if they wished to do so, after their contractual obligations had been met. 

They admitted that this was the first time that they had performed in this type of a setting, and with such secrecy. Boris asked them if the stage and equipment, which he had brought in for them to use, was adequate for their use. They expressed their delight in these items and complimented that the equipment was very top-of-the-line. Boris looked at them with a tilt of his head and said that he would not have insulted them by bringing in anything of lesser quality.

 

~~~

 

The next day, on the afternoon of the event, Boris and Hank got ready for the party. Hank wore a medium-dark, blue suit with a pale blue shirt – both of which set off nicely his brown hair and bright blue eyes. Boris wore a light grey, pin-striped suit with a white shirt that highlighted his silver-grey hair and hazel eyes. It was summer, so no ties were required. 

Boris had his ever-present cane with him and some guests at the party were quite taken with Boris’ imposing presence – feeling both somewhat fearful and in awe. There would be many guests attending the party that night who would be overwhelmed by the masculine, confident figures which both Boris and Hank presented. Most of the guests had never been to Shadow Pond and so (paraphrasing Winston Churchill) both the man and his mansion were ‘an enigma wrapped in a mystery.’ Boris and Hank spent the entire evening by each others’ side and some guests had begun to speculate…

(Several guests also attempted, that evening, to express their ‘personal’ interest in both Boris and Hank, both collectively or separately.)

The party was kept to the confines of the upper and lower lawns, as well as the expansive gardens. Boris did not want anyone in the house that night; doors and windows were locked and guarded. Everything that every guest would want or need was set up outside. The party planner had done ‘marvelous’ work and it was all to Boris’ liking. 

The Guests began to arrive at 6 p.m. Lively, yet recorded, music was playing for atmosphere. 

Cocktails were served at 6:30 p.m.; dinner was served at 8 p.m. 

Khalil, and his team, had their hands full that evening as there were no less than fourteen party crashers ‘just dying to get in.’ There had not been a party at Shadow Pond for many years. 

The BBQ was touted by some, as the best served in the Hamptons that summer and everyone raved about the beverages, as well.

At 9 p.m., the party lights were dimmed and spotlights illuminated only the stage. The crowd began to quiet down, and move toward the stage, there was palpable excitement in the air.

Hank, with Boris nearby, was talking to a former patient of his (who was wishing Hank a ‘happy birthday’) when a voice came over the microphone: “Good evening, everyone! We hope that you’re having a great time here at Shadow Pond!”

The crowd applauded and cheered.

Hank knitted his eyebrows, and stopped speaking; he thought he recognized the voice…

The voice on the microphone continued, “We want to wish Hank a very happy birthday, and we are:” a pause, “Steely Dan!” The crowd cheered and the band launched immediately into one of their hits: ‘Reelin’ In The Years.’ 

Hank spun around to see his favorite band now playing for him at his birthday party. Hank then looked at Boris, who stood two paces away - tall, proud, and with both hands on the handle of his cane in front of him. The smile on Boris’ face was one of pure and open fondness for only Hank, his companion; because for Boris, the crowd and the noise had ceased to exist. For Boris, it was only about this moment to make Hank happy. 

Because the music was loud, Boris mouthed the words: ‘Happy Birthday, My Love,’ not knowing if Hank could read his lips. Hank smiled broadly, put his hand to his heart, and mouthed the words: ‘Thank you, from my heart.’

Although Steely Dan had been contracted to play an hour-long set, the band had such a great time that they played for two.

The party lasted until 2 a.m. and by the time Khalil, and his team, finished clearing the property it was 3:15 a.m.

 

Boris and Hank now walked down the corridor to their Apartment, both quite weary, but very happy. They met up with Khalil when they reached the door way.

Boris asked Khalil, “Report?”

“The house and the grounds are now clear, by both physical and audio/visual sweeps, Sirs. Shall I inspect your Apartment?” Khalil asked.

Boris nodded and said to Hank, “The last time I had a party here, we discovered some guests had, eh, lost their way into parts of the house into which they were not invited. Khalil takes extra precautions now.”

Khalil went into the Apartment.

Hank smiled and slyly said, “Gees, I hope I didn’t leave my dirty underwear on the floor in the bath room.”

Boris looked at Hank, feigning shock, said, “Good lord, have you lost your mind? When would I ever allow dirty underwear anywhere, on any surface of this house, Hank?”

Khalil returned to meet them in the corridor once again and stated, “All clear, Sirs. The windows are locked as well, now. Please, as an extra precaution, please lock this door when you retire for the night.” Khalil pointed to the door handle of the Apartment.

“Thank you, Khalil, for an exceptional job done tonight. I know that it was a challenge; please provide us with a full report tomorrow afternoon. You and your men are to be commended.” Boris stated proudly.

“Yeah, thanks Khalil!” Hank said sincerely and enthusiastically.

Khalil bowed in gratitude and left them.

After Boris and Hank entered their Apartment and locked the door, Hank grabbed Boris and pulled him into an embrace. They kissed each other with passion.

Pulling away from each other slightly, “I have been of the desire to do that with you all evening, H-Hank,” Boris said quietly.

“When the band started playing, I wanted to just run to you and take you…” Hank said, shaking his head, not being able to finish his sentence.

They smiled at each other, separated and started to walk slowly towards the closet room, Hank matched Boris’ stride. 

Boris then suggested, “May I suggest that we get some sleep now? I have asked Udo to bring a coffee and light breakfast for us in the morning; he is going to leave it outside of our door on the cart, so that we can retrieve it whenever we are ready. I should like to not be disturbed tomorrow morning – I believe we shall both need to sleep late, yes?”

 

~~~

 

Hank’s birthday party did make it to Page Six of the Hamptons socialite newspaper; comments about the party and photos of it were seen on many blogs, as well…

 

~~~

 

Morning came to Shadow Pond as quietly as usual. The white gold early sunlight filtered into their Apartment and the two companions were lying in bed, comfortable, safe, and most importantly, together. Boris was cradling Hank, both are asleep, their breathing slow and even.

Boris awakened first, but did not move. He knew that his beloved was beside him, and Boris was not going to disturb the moment. Boris opened his eyes slowly and scanned the room, very pleased. His cheek on Hanks’ head; Boris inhaled, smelled Hank’s hair, and smiled.

So much had happened over the past five weeks since Hank’s birthday party; memories moved across Boris’ mind, but he settled on none of them as he began to think about this day ahead of them. Boris had regained his vitality under Hank’s skilled medical guidance and partly, also, because of Boris’ own personal drive and determination. Boris became active and felt like himself once again. Hank had dedicated himself completely to Boris’ recuperation and Boris had become a dutiful patient; although Boris’ natural stubbornness would shine through - from time to time.

This stubbornness, too, was sometimes a ploy used by Boris because he enjoyed getting Hank agitated. It gave Boris great satisfaction to watch Hank’s eyes sparkle. Case in point: Hank had discovered Boris enjoying a soak in the bathtub while he was blissfully smoking away at a cigar. Hank had forbidden cigars during Boris’ convalescence. Hank was not amused; but Boris was thoroughly amused. Boris took delight in the times when Hank would scold him for doing too much or not doing what he instructed. Hank would pace and gesture and raise his voice, his blue eyes sparkling bright. Boris would slyly smile and pretend to be innocent at Hank, which, at times, would infuriate Hank even more. Those moments always ended in an embrace and a kiss that was a powerful-looking as it felt. 

Boris’ strength had returned and he now planned for something else to soon occur, beyond the embrace…

The two men’s understanding, connection, and affection for each other had also become stronger and more complete.

Hank sighed and shifted slightly, he pressed against Boris. Hank’s left arm was across Boris’ chest, which he hugged even in his sleep. Boris smiled and began to hum a part of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, specifically the Variation XVIII, Andante Cantabile; this was Boris’ most favored melody. Boris would hum this to himself when he would be happily busy at some activity, such as re-arranging his wine cellar or humidors. The tune, although flowing and melancholy, seemed to bring Boris comfort. 

The sound was low and deep in Boris’ chest and throat and Hank slowly awoke to the sound. This happened quite often now, as it had become Boris’ favorite way to wake Hank from sleep. Hank turned his head and looked at Boris who smiled at him.

Hank rose up to an upright position; they said “Good Morning” to each simultaneously.

Hank asked, “Have you been up long?”

“No, not at all,” Boris replied.

Hank rubbed his eyes and stretched out his muscular arms and chest, and then Hank asked, “Did you sleep well?”

“Ja, exceptionally well,” Boris replied, as he admired Hank’s movements.

Hank got out of bed and went, with a spring in his step, to the bath room doorway calling out, “It’s going to be a great day, Boris!”

Boris chuckled and said to himself, “Yes, my dear Hank, it shall be a fine day.”

Getting out of bed now, Boris stretched. He was able to move about now with his inherent grace and controlled, purposeful manner, not needing the cane any longer. He had become accustomed to having it with him, though, the handle familiar and comfortable in his hand. Boris felt that it reminded him of ‘their beginning together’ and being sentimental, he continued to use it when he walked anywhere outside of their Apartment. He always kept it by his bedside.

Boris felt very good this morning. Under Hank’s care, Boris had gained five pounds and he looked ‘a good deal’ healthier as well. His color had returned, his appetite was better, he wasn’t cold all the time and the medication had greatly reduced the thyroid problem. His depression had also diminished to its lowest level in years.

As Hank came out of the bath room, and they began to get ready for the day, Boris asked lightly, “What is on the schedule for today, Hank?”

“I love the way you say the word ‘schedule.’” Hank said.

(Boris always pronounced the word as: shed-yu-el. Hank always pronounced the word as: sked-ue-al. Not so subtle differences between European-spoken English and American-spoken English.)

“No, Hank, you just ‘love’ having a companion who is from another part of the world and one who speaks differently than you do,” Boris stated.

“Yeah, and that’s exactly why I changed my whole entire life, Boris, just so I can hear your accent 24/7.” Hank replied.

Playful, sarcastic banter like this had become a part of their daily lives and they both enjoyed the sparing immensely, often attempting to outdo each other.

“Hank, you did not answer my question,” Boris continued.

“Yeah, I didn’t, did I?” Hank said with a sly look on his face. Hank then walked over to Boris, who was, by then, in the closet room half-dressed, and wrapped his arms around Boris in a friendly hug. Looking up at Boris, Hank asked, “Do you know what my pet name is for you?”

“No. What is a pet name?” Boris inquired and tilted his head.

“A pet name is a private name that you give someone you really care about, and it’s only used when no one else is around and could hear it.” Hank explained.

“Hmm…an amusing concept. So, what IS your pet name for me?” Boris asked, now very curious.

Hank smiled and said, “You are Tree.”

“Tree?” Why am I, Tree?” Boris looked intently into Hank’s eyes.

They were still in the hug and Hank, who enjoyed being next to Boris’ bare chest, continued, “Well, because you are tall and solid, noble and upright, and like a Redwood tree, your long arms are like the long-reaching branches of a tree.” Hank hugged Boris a little tighter.

“Hmm.” Boris said, now extremely amused with Hank.

“It appears that I should need to give you a pet name as well, now.” Boris continued, and he looked down into Hank’s eager face. “I shall call you…” a pause, “One.”

“One?” Hank asked quite confused.

“When I realized long ago, what you had become to me, even though we were not as we are now, I was struck with a profound thought…that you are truly, my One; my One and only.” Boris gently said. “Do you like this name?” Boris asked in a hopeful tone of voice.

“I do, Tree.” Hank said, and he realized just how sentimental Boris really was.

“So do I, One.” Boris said, and he realized just how charming Hank really was.

 

During breakfast, a little while later, Hank suggested a different activity for the morning. “I was thinking that we could take a drive and go walk on the beach.”

“I truly like this idea, Hank; it has been quite a while since we have walked on the beach, has it not?” Boris replied, almost sounding eager. “We shall notify Khalil to arrange a standard security detail to escort us and Anton can drive us there.”

A standard security detail, for when Boris was mobile meant: four security guards, and two large black SUV’s each carrying two guards, (one driven in front of and one driven in back of) the car that Boris rode in, which was driven by Anton, his personal driver/guard, and with Udo riding in the passenger seat.

“Oh,” Hank said.

“This is a part your life now, Hank.” Boris reminded him gently.

“Yeah, I forgot about that part.” Hank said, somewhat disheartened. He continued, “I really wanted to take the SAAB and put the top down, you know, to feel the wind in our hair.”

Boris felt badly as it appeared he had crushed Hank’s spirit. He then offered, “We could have the detail escort us in your car.” Boris thought, ‘my guards and Anton will not be happy that I am not in an enclosed vehicle.’ 

Hank cheered up immediately, “That would be great!”

Udo then appeared and Boris asked him to make the necessary arrangements; he and Hank would be ready within the hour. Udo incredulously looked at Boris and Boris replied, “Yes, Udo, I know,” as he held up a hand, “please, simply add one more guard; I am certain that will appease the rest and make up for the lack of an automobile roof over my head.”

 

There was not another convertible driving around anywhere in the Hamptons that day that had two more happier people in it; never mind, two more handsome people.

Hank was practically giddy driving them Sagg Main Beach in Sagaponack. The beach was known for a low-key vibe and was the most desired beach for relaxation in the area; the plus was that the beach had a level of dignity which was favored by the ‘page six-ers’ (read: the elite) of the Hamptons.

Hank could tell that Boris was enjoying the ride and himself as well. Even though Boris’ Serengeti sunglasses were very dark and Hank couldn’t see Boris’ eyes, Hank could tell just by Boris’ relaxed face and body posture.

The walk would help them work up a good appetite for lunch, Hank thought, which was still necessary even though Boris had regained his health. There were many times when Boris would slip back into his old ‘not eating’ habits and Hank had to be a bit of a mother-hen. He had to employ all sorts of tactics to entice Boris to eat. Hank told himself that someday, he would figure out why Boris acted this way.

Hank decided that today would be the day that he would tell Boris that he could start smoking his cherished cigars again. Hank placed a caveat on the permission: no more than one per day and no more than 4 a week. Boris gratefully accepted this and promised ‘to be good.’

It amazed Hank that their, now five body guards, and Udo, could be seen and yet not seen at the same time, while Hank and Boris took their walk. Hank didn’t feel that the two of them were under any surveillance and it helped Hank to feel more lighthearted. Hank had to somehow get used to this security thing fast, he thought to himself. He planned for them (plus now the six others) to do this more often. The guards, and Udo, however, were on high alert the entire time as there was considerably too much open space here for their comfort.

Boris brought his cane and Hank teased him about how silly Boris would look trying to walk on the sand with it. Boris innocently stated that he wasn’t going to use the cane while they were on the beach, and that he just brought it along as a talisman, of sorts. They locked it in the trunk of the SAAB while they took their walk.

 

On the drive back to Shadow Pond, Boris expressed his enjoyment of the event and that he wanted to walk on the beach more often, as well. Hank teased Boris by saying that if Boris had an online dating profile, it would read: ‘Favorite Things to Do: long walks on the beach.’ Boris scoffed at this and replied that Hank’s dating profile would include: ‘A fascination with old men who smoke cigars and play the cello.’ 

Hank tersely, yet playfully said, “What did I tell you about the ‘old man’ thing, Boris?”

Lunch at home was a slightly larger affair than usual with the amount of food served and consumed. Udo was working with Hank to help Boris maintain a healthier appetite and did all he could, also with Chef’s assistance. They didn’t want Boris to lose the weight he had just gained back. Truth be told, Hank, the doctor, actually wanted three more pounds back on Boris’ frame.

As they finished their lunch of roasted rosemary chicken and herbed, parmesan potatoes, a garden salad and jasmine iced tea, Boris said, “I have been thinking about your Shadow Pond Infirmary idea, Hank. I apologize for taking so long to return to the topic. If you are still interested, would you like to walk the house today to choose a room for the Infirmary?”

“Boris! That’s awesome! Yes, thank you so much!” Hank exclaimed.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with this activity and Hank chose a large, airy room on the first floor of the Shadow Pond main house, which was currently being used for storage. It had plenty of space, power and water, as well as many windows to let in light, and easy, yet secured, access from inside the house (for the staff to use) and for the movement of equipment and supplies. They talked about making arrangements with a local architect/contractor, whom Boris knew and trusted (and had Khalil’s prior clearance,) to create the blueprints and organize plans for some minor construction to get space the way Hank wanted it.

They agreed to talk later about approaching Hamptons Heritage to obtain supplies and equipment; Boris was prepared to make a sizable donation to the hospital, in addition to paying for and securing everything that Hank needed for his infirmary. No expense would be spared to get Hank the best and most modern equipment available to him. It pleased Boris a great deal to be able to do this for his doctor.

To celebrate, both of them enjoyed a late afternoon brandy and cigars out on Boris’ private Meditation Terrace. Boris was in a state of rapture when he took the first puff on a favored Montecristo; he was silent and had his eyes closed. Boris’ chin was raised up and the smoke slowly drifted upward. Hank almost thought that Boris had fallen asleep as he was so still, even while he was sitting up. There was also much heartfelt discussion over how much things had changed since the two of them had first sat together out on that terrace. 

Udo came and retrieved them for dinner.

Dinner was outside as the weather now stayed warm, but comfortable into the late evening at this time of year in the Hamptons. Out on the lawn, lanterns were lit, a fine table was set and, to Hank, somehow the staff had made the open area feel intimate simply by the placement of furniture and the use of a large patio umbrella positioned above the dining table. Boris had asked for one of Hank’s favorite dishes and accompaniments to be served, and Boris asked Udo to arrange for some recorded music to play softly in the background, he was interested in listening to something pleasant by Mozart this evening.

“Perhaps ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ to start with, please Udo, the performance by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, ja?” Boris asked.

Hank said, at one point during the meal, when there was no staff around - not even Udo, “If I didn’t know you better, Tree, I’d say you were trying to seduce me.”

Boris looked over the table at Hank, with a very amused expression, blinking slowly and replied, “Not as far as you know, One.”

 

Much later that evening, the two men decided that it is time to call it a day. It had been a very good day for both of them.

They walked back to their Apartment; Hank entered first, Boris followed. Boris stopped just inside the door way, he closed the door slowly, which made Hank stop and turn around, only to see Boris lock the door. Boris looked intently at Hank with an eager expression on his face. 

Boris then walked up to Hank rather quickly; he was now the strong Boris, the purposeful Boris. A wave of Boris’ confidence, power and masculinity washed over Hank, effectively stunning him in place. Both men reacted, as only men can do, to the building intensity of the moment.

Hearts raced, breathing quickened, muscles coiled in preparation for action. Boris stood in front of Hank; long fingers moved to caress Hank’s jaw line and temple. The gentleness of the caress contrasted sharply with the electricity building up around them, and inside of them.

Suddenly, there was an embrace, and also a kiss. Their embrace, their kiss; both practiced now since they became companions; perfected now as they prepared themselves for the inevitability of this moment. Both have waited patiently, both were in control, and yet were consumed by the chaos of their passion for each other. Their strengths moved and collided within each others’.

They pulled away from each other and yet still fell into each others’ eyes. Hank grabbed Boris’ forearm and led him along as they walked together to the bed. Now, Hank’s power and strength had taken control and had stunned Boris in submission.

Boris took Hank’s face in his hands and kissed him again and again, pushing himself against Hank like a starving man at a dinner table. The need for Boris to consume Hank and make him a part of himself was overwhelming. He had waited so long for this.

Hank, too, had captured Boris and made him meld within him.

They paused for a moment to catch their breaths, foreheads touched, arms wrapped around each other, they held on tightly. Strength matched strength now.

Hank pulled away, but only slightly. They looked at and into each other; Hank then began to undo and remove Boris’ tie. Neither man blinked.

“Go slowly, please, Hank.” Boris pleaded in a whisper. “I need to savor this…and you…”

“I will, if you promise to go slowly with me.” Hank softly responded.

“I promise.” Boris responded, again in a whisper.

Hank then removed Boris’ jacket and unbuttoned his shirt.

Hank undressed Boris with care, and was slow, as Boris had asked; there was no pause when Hank finished and when Boris began to slowly and carefully undress Hank. 

Loving hands caressed and explored, always touching, always creating a physical connection between them.

Boris’ and Hank’s bodies were then free of encumbering clothing. Boris reached down to lift up the blankets and then pulled Hank to join him on the bed. There was no resistance, no hesitation by either of them.

Both men sighed deeply, and moved together, they created sounds of barely controllable emotion, and then later, each man cried out in ecstasy as they entwined themselves with each other in ways that only lovers know.

 

In the quiet darkness of their bedroom, moonlight streamed in through the window from behind their bed, and cast a soft, silver light seemingly everywhere. Boris and Hank held onto one another as they were lying in the center of the great bed. Hank’s head was on Boris’ chest; their breathing had calmed, hard-earned sweat had nearly evaporated from their skin. Both relished the after-glow of an event (the first of many,) such a long time in coming to them.

Boris chuckled, which caused Hank to chuckle, as well.

There were words that the two men, the two companions, had not yet spoken to each other. They were both waiting to say these words when the moment was beyond perfect. Now, this was that moment.

“I love you, Hank.” Boris said.

“I love you, Boris.” Hank replied.


	6. Ramifications, Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every action has a (sometimes) equal, and (sometimes not-so-equal) opposite reaction…  
> Boris and Hank now deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Boris and Hank knew that they were late, really late, for breakfast. They had slept in, and then they needed showers, or more correctly, a shower. One thing led to another…

Now that they had become true companions, in the intimate ways that each man had dreamt about, their private world was completely theirs. The two men had begun to discover that what they shared: mentally, emotionally, and physically was more powerful than they had ever imagined. It gave them a sense of comfort and a connection not experienced by many.

Forty-five minutes later, they finally arrived at breakfast, which was set outside on the upper lawn. Hank apologized enthusiastically to Udo for their being late; and Udo simply smiled, bowed and wished for them to enjoy the pleasant meal. Udo was smiling inside as he could sense their happiness and he was truly pleased for them.

 

~~~

 

A new pattern had begun to emerge during their mornings now; after breakfast, Hank went for a run and Boris went for a swim. Boris, having always been a powerful swimmer, could do more laps within the time of Hank’s run than Hank could ever do. Hank, having always been a proficient runner, could run faster and longer than Boris ever could, or desire to – Boris did not enjoy running at all and flatly refused to join Hank. Both men, under this every-other-day-or-so cycle of exercise, kept themselves strong and trim. (Boris’ normal, but lean muscle mass, of which a good deal of had been lost during his extended malady, had now returned, much to the delight of his doctor and companion.)

Hank returned from his run, and started to enter the Pool Room, just in time to see Boris climb the ladder and rise up from the water, dripping wet and breathing hard, his chest expanding and contracting. Hank could not help to feel a thrill at the sight of his companion, now fully healthy, strong, and active. 

Hank didn’t enter the Pool Room right away; he hung back in the doorway and took great pleasure as he surreptitiously watched Boris towel himself dry. Then Udo offered Boris a velvet robe to wear so that he wouldn’t get chilled. Boris had a specific process: a vigorous swim immediately followed by the enjoyment of a fresh double-espresso (prepared and served by Udo) while he reclined on a chaise lounge chair and caught his breath.

Hank then entered the Pool Room and greeted Boris enthusiastically, which, of course was returned by Boris.

Sitting down on the chaise lounge next to Boris’ legs, Hank asked, “Nice swim?” Hank looked around briefly and placed his hand on the robe at Boris’ upper thigh and squeezed it lovingly.

“Quite nice,” was Boris’ reply after he took a sip from the espresso cup; he smiled and asked, “How was your run?”

“Great! The grounds here are the best, lots of different surfaces to navigate on. I’m really glad that Khalil’s team is now more comfortable with me running around everywhere.” Hank replied happily.

Udo asked Hank if he wanted an espresso, which Hank declined and said he only wanted water. It was mere seconds before Udo had a glass of chilled water in Hank’s hand.

 

During lunch that day, Hank told Boris that he could increase his business work schedule. Hank felt that Boris had now completely recovered and wanted Boris to return to the rest of his usual activities, but certainly not with the typical ‘Boris speed or force.’ Hank had restricted Boris, for many weeks, from attending to his businesses, because Hank had seen the toll it took on Boris. Hank instructed Boris that he could now work only three days a week, and no more than five hours a day. Hank’s word was final on this situation. Hank even made Boris promise to follow these rules.

Hank had seen what happened when Boris threw himself into his work; Boris managed several large companies (Hank wasn’t really sure how many there were, but they were all over the world), as well as the Festung Bank. Boris was the type of businessman who was actively and intensely involved with his businesses; which, while satisfying to a business-man like Boris, could be exhausting work. When Boris was healthy, he would sail through long days of work easily.

But when Boris was recuperating, he had attempted to attend to his businesses, even on a very limited time frame set by Hank; Boris had to try and he told Hank that he needed to not feel as though he was an invalid. Hank let him try, but knew what the outcome would be simply based on Boris’ severely weakened health. The level of attention to detail that was involved, left Boris drained physically and mentally and sometimes very muddled. So much so, that it would take an entire day for Boris to recover. Once, early on in his convalescence, when he had attempted to work, Boris pushed himself too far and then actually forgot where he physically was at one point - he couldn’t recall whether he was at Shadow Pond or at the New York apartment. Boris would then grow frustrated and angry, and that didn’t help matters at all.

Healthy Boris was now grateful for this increase in work, as his mind was eager to get engrossed in business once again. Boris was sharp and quick now, as he was before he fell ill. He had many plans that he needed to see to fruition, both from the corporate side of things and now, the personal side of things. Boris wanted to have certain legal processes firmly in place, for his and Hank’s protection; and so Boris had then set to work with his group of exceptionally adept, international attorneys. There were ‘dark storm clouds on the horizon’ for Boris and Hank (which Boris firmly believed), and Boris wanted both of them to be completely prepared and safe from any danger that might come their way – personally, monetarily, legally, and physically.

 

 

During some time alone in their Apartment much later that day, Hank also told Boris that he didn’t have to do a weekly blood draw on Boris any longer, and that it would be now done every three weeks. Boris’ test results had looked very good recently and were stable over a length of time now, so Hank wanted to ease back on this procedure. Boris teased Hank and said that he would miss Hank’s attention to his arm (where Hank drew Boris’ blood from), and Hank teased back that he would make up for it in other ways.

Boris replied, his eyes steely, “I dare you, One.”

Hank spun around and grabbed Boris in an embrace. Boris wrapped his arms around Hank tightly; they kissed each other passionately and there was nothing slow about what the two lovers did next; their movements were fierce this time, but in ways that showed their hunger and attraction for one another was only getting stronger. 

 

~~~

 

A week later, The Shadow Pond Infirmary was completed. The Shadow Pond staff was elated at the news and very appreciative to both Boris, and to Dr. Hank, to provide this service to them. 

Hank decided to host an open house where he invited the entire staff to visit him at the Infirmary, at their convenience, in the afternoon one day and be given a tour of the new facility by Dr. Hank. Khalil and his team, over the course of the afternoon, also visited the Infirmary as their schedules allowed.

Hank worked with Udo to get all of the arrangements in order, including some light jazz music playing in the background. Udo wanted to hire musicians for Dr. Hank, but Hank said that was just too much. “Udo, thank you, that’s very nice, but it’s only an open house.” Hank said gently.

“Yes, but it is YOUR open house, Sir.” Udo defended, but Hank insisted and won.

Hank was in his element to now care for the staff, with state-of-the-art equipment and supplies, and Boris was quite pleased with all of this, including the relationship he had now forged with Hamptons Heritage. Boris became struck by a memory (from very long ago,) when he had told Hank that Hamptons Heritage was a “taco stand.” Boris thought to himself that he would have to remember to talk to Hank about this memory; it was the first day that they met and it was a day that changed Boris’ life forever.

The Shadow Pond Infirmary would be open for staff walk-ins during the same times and days of the week that Boris was doing his own work. Boris suggested that a set schedule was the most efficient way to handle things. This also allowed both men to take care of their respective business at the same time and by doing this, it would not take away from their time together – time which they cherished and protected. Of course, if there was an urgent medical issue, it was understood that Hank would drop whatever he was doing and take care of situation and his patient.

Boris sat at Hank’s new desk in the Infirmary, contented to watch Hank…Dr. Hank…talk with the Shadow Pond staff. Boris had his legs crossed, he leaned slightly on the desk, and felt quite relaxed. He had just finished enjoying a double espresso, when suddenly, in through the doorway, walked Eddie Lawson. 

Boris tensed inwardly, sighed, stood up, took his cane in hand and walked quickly across the room to meet Eddie as close to the door way as possible. As always, two of Khalil’s men, this time it was Jacob and Richard, flanked Eddie closely. Boris stopped in front of Eddie, and the image he presented was formidable.

Hank had not yet seen Eddie enter the Infirmary as he was at the opposite end of the room talking to a few of the staff and showing them some equipment.

Eddie held out his hand to shake Boris’, but Boris’ hands did not leave the handle of the cane which he held in front of him. Boris stood there, looking down at Eddie with cool distain. Boris flatly said, “Good afternoon, Mr. Lawson, what brings you to Shadow Pond - this time?”

“Hi ya, Boris,” Eddie withdrew his hand, and said hesitantly, “uh, I just wanted to see if you, and of course, Hank, had a few moments to talk with me.” Eddie continued, “I know it’s been a while…”

“Thankfully,” Boris interrupted; his eyes drilled into Eddie.

“Uh, it’s been a while since we spoke and I wanted to set some things right.” Eddie offered, but not as enthusiastically as he had hoped it would sound. Boris had effectively deflated Eddie’s energy. 

“Mr. Lawson, you have an uncanny knack of arriving at OUR home at the most inconvenient of times. Do you not understand that you can telephone our assistant and make a formal appointment with US?” Boris stated; he emphasized the words ‘our’ and ‘us.’

“Yeah, I guess I shoulda done that, heh, heh, I’m so sorry.” Eddie replied as he gestured wildly with his hands and arms.

“Apologizing for continued poor behavior and ill-manners does not remove the harm those actions have caused, Mr. Lawson. You have obviously not learned anything from our previous interactions and how I require them to be. I must say that I am very displeased with your unannounced appearance here right now, as this is a special day for Hank, and it is very possible that your presence now may tarnish what would otherwise be a perfect day for him.” Boris had now grown quite angry.

Hank walked up behind and to Boris’ left, as he heard Boris say: “…your presence may now tarnish what would otherwise be a perfect day for him.” Hank then said, with a good degree of annoyance, “Oh, hi, Dad.” Hank was not happy to see his father.

“What’s going on here, Boris?” Hank asked.

“Your father desires a few minutes of our time, it seems, even though he has not made an appointment with Udo to visit us.” Boris stated, he did not take his eyes off of Eddie. “I know you are otherwise engaged at the moment, Hank, what would you prefer to do at this time?” Boris was poised and ready to make that very slight hand movement that would have instructed Jacob and Richard to immediately escort Eddie off Shadow Pond property.

Hank looked at Eddie and said, “I have a few moments before my next guests arrive. Dad, what do you want to talk about?” Hank was in no mood for his father and whatever he was going to do or say. Hank was trying to hold onto the good feeling that his open house and the Infirmary had brought him and he was losing ground. His father always seemed to take away more than he ever gave, and this had been happening ever since Hank was a young boy; Hank finally had reached the breaking point regarding his father.

Boris sensed this in Hank, saw the look of disappointment on his companion’s face, and then sternly reiterated, “Mr. Lawson, why are you here? Please finish what you came to say and leave.”

“Can we sit down?” Eddie asked, rather nervously now.

“NO!” Hank and Boris said together.

“Yeah, ok, well then, um, I just wanted to say that I am sorry that I interrupted whatever that was when I was here a few weeks ago,” Eddie stammered, “and, oh boy, and that I walked out so fast, because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from Evan and, then looking at the two of you, gees…”

Hank and Boris waited exactly to the silent count of three before they simultaneously said, “And…”

“And uh, well, whatever or however you want to live your lives, is okay by me…you don’t need my permission or anything…” Eddie hesitated.

Boris interrupted Eddie once again, the limit of Boris’ patience had been reached, “Your son, Mr. Lawson, is a grown man who is more than capable of making his own decisions about his life. It would be a considerate thing for you to appreciate that Hank has done something with his life, yes? It would also be appropriate for you to step away at this time.” 

“Yeah, you’re right, Boris, I know, (Eddie chuckled nervously) he’s actually made better decisions than I have.” Eddie replied, and then continued, “I just want to say,” Eddie tried to stand taller, “that I wish you both the best of luck in your future together.” Eddie nodded his head and smiled sheepishly at both of them, “May I leave now?”

“Yes.” Hank and Boris said together and Boris’ hand signal brought Jacob and Richard in closer to where Eddie was standing.

“Ok, then, take care, you two! See ya ‘round!” Eddie waved as he walked out/was escorted out of the Infirmary door way. Udo followed dutifully behind Eddie, Jacob and Richard.

Boris turned around quickly to look at Hank with an expression of support and unconditional love. Hank looked at Boris and seemed to cheer somewhat; Boris then uncharacteristically reached out with one hand and held onto Hank’s upper arm with a firm, yet loving grip. Boris did not care, at that moment, if anyone saw his open expression and the physical contact between them (which they had always kept to a bare minimum when they were outside of their preferred private areas of the house) – Shadow Pond was their home and they could do anything in their home that they wanted, or needed to do, if they chose to. Right now, Boris wanted Hank to know that everything would be all right. 

Boris made a mental note to himself, in that split second that he would make time to talk with Hank about this contact; it suddenly became very important to him. Boris thought, ‘What did Hank call it? Ah, a PDA.’ 

Hank said quietly, placing a hand on top of Boris’ at his arm and squeezed it in return, “Thank you, Boris, for your help with him. I’m really embarrassed by this and I am sorry that you had to put up with it.”

“Every family has its challenges, Hank; what is it that you and I believe in, now? That you and I are together and this is all that matters, yes?” Boris said softly and sincerely.

Hank wanted so badly to hug Boris at that moment. Hank needed to feel Boris’ solid, warm body against his own and Boris’ strong arms wrapped around him. But, at that moment, three of the Shadow Pond staff walked in to see the new facility. Boris didn’t drop his hand right away; he held it there for a moment more and smiled at Hank. Hank smiled back at Boris; they released their hold on each other, and then Hank went to greet his guests with an even wider smile.

 

~~~

 

“Don’t even…say it…” Hank said between deep breaths.

They settled in close together, the bed sheets draped haphazardly over their naked bodies. Both men were breathing heavily; Boris’ head was on Hank’s shoulder and his arm was across Hank’s chest.

“Do not…say what…my beloved One?” Boris asked breathlessly.

“Anything about…being an old man trying to…catch his breath,” Hank exhaled, “You are NOT an…old man, Boris.”

“Well, technically…I am ten years…” Boris said quietly.

Hank interrupted Boris, “Stop, please, you…have got to be the most virile of men, for your age, or any age, for that matter.”

The bed sheet made a soft, rustling sound as it moved across their bodies; Boris hugged Hank tighter and entangled his long legs with Hank’s. Hank ran his fingers through Boris’ thick silver grey hair, absently arranging it. Many quiet moments of languor passed as they lay there and their breathing calmed.

“How did you know that I was going to say that?” Boris asked.

“Because you often say that, and to me, you are NOT an old man. Your age just isn’t a factor to me. The fact that you are an exciting and considerate lover, on top of the million other reasons why I love you, should prove this to you.” Hank replied sincerely.

Boris turned his head and looked up at Hank. They exchanged all-knowing smiles. Boris moved himself slightly to kiss Hank’s neck and then murmured into it, “Mmmm…” Boris then began to chuckle as his elegant hand traveled slowly down Hank’s muscular chest towards Hank’s firm abdomen; Boris shifted his position…

“What? Boris, again?!” Hank exclaimed with delight.

From where his face was buried in Hank’s neck, Boris said, “I have not yet sated my desire of you today, Hank.”

Hank, started to breathe heavily again and gasped, “Remind me to always keep you this healthy…”

 

~~~

 

Dinner was actually in the formal dining room that evening, it was simply too hot outside to be enjoyable. Now it was the middle of summer and sometimes, summer in the Hamptons could be brutal. 

Something that Hank brought into their lives together now was the addition of atmospheric music. When they dined inside, Hank would suggest some recorded music to be played in the background. Boris found this to be an amusing concept, and as he was so accustomed to have dined alone and in silence in the past, the introduction of this ‘background’ music was very pleasurable to him. They would take turns choosing the music for the meal and it was always instrumental. 

And once they had gotten Udo to accept that he didn’t have to hire musicians to play live music every evening, then everyone was happy. 

Tonight, the music was the’ Symphony Number 6 in F Major, Pastoral’ by Ludwig van Beethoven.

“Hank, I should like to discuss my upcoming birthday. I have an idea which I would like to present to you.” Boris stated over the salad course.

“Yeah, I was thinking about your birthday, too.” Hank replied and was inwardly relieved that Boris had brought the topic up so plainly. Hank had never been very good at planning birthdays; attending them, yes, planning them, no; and the only thing Hank knew is that Boris would not enjoy a party with Boris being the guest of honor, surprise or otherwise.

Boris continued, “You know, now, that I do not enjoy surprises and so I thought that perhaps some formal plans to celebrate with just you and I together would be of great pleasure to us.”

“Ok, what’s on your mind, Boris?” Hank was eager to learn what Boris was thinking of.

“First, do we have Dr. Hank’s permission to travel?” Boris asked. Boris thought that now since he had become completely healthy, Hank would agree to the two of them taking a trip, if only a short one at first. There were many other intriguing ideas which Boris had been mulling over that would see the two of them travel to various parts of the world, but all of that would come later.

“Travel? That’s a neat idea, where?” Hank asked.

“I should like for us to go to and stay at the New York apartment for an extra long weekend there, this coming Friday to the Monday. We can helicopter in, so the actual travel time would be short; it has been quite a while since we were there, together, yes?” Boris said.

Hank said, “New York, huh? Yeah, I remember the last time.” Hank paused and looked at Boris, “Things were so…different back then.”

“Ja, things are much better now, I think. Would you like to hear of what I would like us to do there?” Boris asked with some anticipation in his voice.

“Yes, what are your plans, Boris?” Hank asked, he wondered why Boris was drawing this conversation out so long.

Boris took a sip of wine and continued, “I do need us to be at Festung Bank; there are some matters of business which I need to be present at; also, my attorneys have requested our presence at a second meeting, which will also be held at the Bank. I would also like for us to take a walk in Central Park, and the terrace at the apartment is a wonderful place for a late night birthday dinner, followed by port wine and cigars – the view is spectacular.”

There it was, thought Hank, the topic of adding business to a pleasure trip. “I remember the view. Sounds great, Boris, I think this is a terrific idea!” Hank said enthusiastically. Hank was now really excited as he suddenly had two ideas that he thought would make Boris’ birthday weekend perfect.

 

~~~

“Udo, I need your help with the New York trip.” Hank asked.

“Of course, Sir, what may I assist you with?” Udo replied.

“When we’re in New York, I want to take Boris to a nice dinner and the symphony for his birthday. I read that the New York Philharmonic is playing a concerto by Rachmaninoff the same weekend we’ll be there – what luck! Can we somehow get decent tickets for this performance? And I think that Boris would enjoy a nice dinner out at a place called Jean-Georges; I looked it up on-line and it is a three-star Michelin rated restaurant!” Hank described all of this to Udo with eagerness.

“Sir, these are very wonderful ideas. Please allow me to secure your tickets and dinner reservations.” Udo said proudly. 

What Udo didn’t say to Hank was that he could easily arrange for box seats (not merely ‘decent’ seats), and access to the after-performance VIP reception to meet the conductor of the symphony, as well as the fact that Boris and Chef Jean-Georges had known each other for many years and that it would be a pleasant reunion for them. 

Hank also formulated an idea of something that he wanted to do with Boris, but didn’t quite know how to pull it off, just yet.

 

~~~

 

Boris was sitting up in bed, wearing deep blue silk pajamas, and his reading glasses were perched on his nose as he read his current book ‘The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu,’ in the Mandarin translation; Boris had adjusted the blanket to be across his legs.

Hank was in the closet room and said, “Do you think we have time to do some clothes shopping while we are in New York?”

Boris smiled and looked over the eyeglass rims towards the direction of the closet room and replied, “Of course, we shall make time to do whatever you wish to do. Do you have a preference of shops to visit?”

“Well, considering that I used to shop at Costco, I think I’m finally ready to upgrade my wardrobe.” Hank said as he walked out into the bedroom. Hank was wearing his favorite sleeping t-shirt and pants.

Boris enjoyed the way the shirt fit somewhat tightly around Hank’s athletic upper arms and across his chest.

“I am certain that my tailor would be pleased to fit you for whatever clothing you need: polo shirts, trousers, jeans,” Boris put the book down on his lap and looked at Hank, “Now, you do not have to wear suits as I do, that is just one of my habits, as you know. You can get the clothing you prefer to wear. I will say this, however, that the clothing you will receive from my tailor shall be of much better quality than that from the Cost…co.”

Hank stood at the side of the bed and smiled at Boris. “You know, I really appreciate the fact that you don’t try to change me, Boris.”

“Change you? Why should I ever want to do that?” Boris asked as he removed his glasses and placed them and the book on the night table. His expression was that of concern and curiosity as he looked up at Hank.

“Sometimes, people try to change their partner; it’s happened to me before. Somehow I was never right for them…there was always something about me that needed to be…fixed,” Hank admitted.

“This is very disheartening to hear, Hank. I did not realize that you had experienced this. I would not change you. You and I are together because of whom we are, we should simply be grateful for this.” Boris said with sincerity. 

Boris thought of all of the times that he pondered on how different they both were, the different worlds they were from, and why they should have any connection or attraction to each other at all. Boris had tried to find definitive reasons why he was so attracted to this uncultured, light-hearted, caring, brilliant doctor from America. Boris had also tried to reason with himself as to why Hank would ever be attracted to an old-world European nobleman with exotic tastes and complicated habits. In the end, Boris simply gave up and decided that it was the way it was supposed to be and that sometimes, life was just that curious.

Hank climbed into bed and under the blanket; they both settled close in together.

“Do you remember the first night we met?” Boris asked.

“I do. You know Evan lied to get us into your party, right?” Hank replied.

“Yes, I know. His play-acted German accent was something directly out of a cinema movie about World War II,” Boris paused, “I did not realize until sometime later how grateful I was for those events at the party. The way you swept in to save my guest and how effectively you invalidated Dr. Silver’s diagnosis. Your quick thinking about the Mach 1 kits also proved extremely helpful. And then, when we talked in my office, you appeared to be so nervous and unassuming; that night changed my entire life. You would have thought me to be mad if I had tried to keep you there and told you what was really beginning forming on my mind.” Boris said this quietly.

“Are you okay? You sound sad.” Hank asked as he turned his head to look at Boris.

“I am, a little, ja. But only because I was not more open with you after you moved into the Guest House. I spent a good deal of time hinting of my interest in you, I took delight in your confusion, and I believe I caused us both a great deal of frustration.” Boris said, still quietly.

Hank chuckled, “Ha, don’t take all of the credit for the frustration; I was too dense and confused at the time to really see what was going on and look at how long it took me TO figure it out.”

 

~~~

 

They finished packing for the trip on Friday morning. Hank said that Boris needed to bring a tux as Hank had something special planned for them. Boris looked at Hank a little sideways and pointed to the portion of the closet which held Boris’ five tuxedos. Boris asked simply, “Which one?”

“Oh! Right…um, that one!” Hank said enthusiastically, as Boris let Hank pick a tuxedo for him. Hank chose the charcoal tuxedo with the Nehru collar and a grey shirt. Boris was delighted with the choice adding that he would be able to wear his indigo sapphire button covers.

Hank’s tuxedo was classic black with a cream shirt and a cream bow tie.

Hank truly enjoyed the helicopter ride into New York. Boris had done this so many times that he took it for granted, but with Hank now at his side, Boris found great pleasure in Hank’s wonderment of that mode of travel.

New York was as big, dark, and loud as they both remembered it to be. It was not anything like the Hamptons. They were both excited – it was their first trip together since before Boris first became ill. It promised to be an amazing weekend.

They arrived at the apartment in time for lunch which they were able to enjoy out on the terrace. Boris’ pleased expression made Hank very happy.

“Would you like to know what our plans are for this evening, or should I keep it a secret?” Hank eagerly asked.

“I believe that if you do not tell me what your plans are, you shall simply explode right in front of me,” Boris replied in amusement, “And then poor Udo will have to clean up the mess...”

“Great! We have five p.m. reservations at Jean-Georges for dinner and then tickets to the New York Philharmonic because they are performing a symphony by Rachmaninoff tonight,” Hank announced proudly.

Boris’ face lit up at this news and he smiled at Hank with wide open affection. He got up from his chair quickly and went to Hank, who also stood up quickly; the two men embraced tightly for many minutes.

“Happy Birthday, Boris,” Hank said quietly in Boris’ ear.

Boris didn’t say anything for a moment, but Hank could hear Boris swallow. “I…thank you, Hank; this is extremely thoughtful.”

They stayed in the embrace a moment longer.

Boris pulled away yet held onto Hank’s upper arms; he looked into Hank’s eyes, smiled and blinked. “Do you think that we should have, what you said once, a PDA?’ Boris asked innocently.

“A what? Oh, what brought this on? Are you okay?” Hank replied with a little bit of concern.

“I am quite fine, Hank; you know how sentimental I can be sometimes when we are together. I also wanted to ask you how you would prefer to be introduced,” Boris asked with sincerity but with a slight business tone to his voice. He released his hold on Hank’s arms and motioned for Hank to join him in the living room. “We shall be meeting several people this week end, whom I know well: Chef Jean-Georges, Mr. Loren – my tailor, and several colleagues at Festung Bank.”

“I guess it’s time, huh?” Hank said nervously as they both seated themselves on the couch. 

Udo then walked into the room and asked if they now wanted their coffee, to which they said yes. Udo left to prepare the service.

“Do not be nervous, we have been sheltered in our home for quite a while now, we must re-join the world at some point, ja?” Boris offered.

“Okay, let’s talk about all of this, I’m ready!” Hank put on a big grin, balled up one fist and brought it and his arm across the front of his body.

“You are amusing, is what you are,” Boris chuckled.

Hank said, scratching his head, “I’m kinda surprised that you’re asking me about a public display of affection. “

“Ja, well, I surprise myself sometimes, too,” Boris admitted, paused, then continued, “I have restrained myself in so many ways for so long; now that I have you by my side, I feel a unique sense of confidence, and pride in us, that…if you approve, I should like to do this, from time to time…in public,” Boris said and demonstrated by placing his hand around Hank’s upper arm just above the elbow and giving his arm a firm squeeze.

They locked eyes; that simple movement was so charming and masculine that they both felt the familiar jolt of electricity which was inherent to them now.

“I like it. I like it very much,” Hank said sincerely.

And as if they were practicing, Boris did not let go of Hank’s arm when Udo walked into the room with the coffee service. Of course, Udo was discreet as always, and set the service tray down on the coffee table in front of them. Boris squeezed Hank’s arm once more and then released his hand.

“Is there anything else that you need at this time, Sirs?” Udo asked politely.

“No, this is perfect, thank you, Udo,” Boris said, intently looking at Hank. 

Hank blushed and wondered where that heat came from. “Thanks, Udo,” Hank said, he was still seated and now moved forward on the couch closer to the table to pour Boris his coffee.

Udo bowed and left the room quietly; Udo smiled wide to himself when his back was turned to them.

Boris leaned back comfortably into the couch and watched his companion, “Ja, that felt different for me, as well.” 

“Oh, you noticed, yeah, just think of how that is going to feel when we are out there,” Hank said as he pointed at the New York skyline, which could be seen through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Boris’ eyebrows rose a bit at that suggestion.

Hank handed Boris his coffee cup and saucer and prepared his own coffee next. Hank said, “Now, onto introductions. You know, I’m glad you brought this up. I had been thinking about it, too. Why does this have to be such a big deal? In my past relationships, it was easier, at least I think it was.”

“You must remember, Hank, that OUR past relationships were of the type that are, eh, more widely socially acceptable;” a pause, “Although as I say this, I am now appalled to think that in this day and age, the human race has not matured sufficiently to be more agreeable to all forms of alliances,” Boris said with a degree of weariness.

Hank looked at Boris for a moment, wondered where the weariness had suddenly come from, then asked, “Who was it who said: ‘That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.’”

Boris smiled and replied, “Ah, Friedrich Nietzsche. Very correct, ja. So, how should I introduce you? We seem to have a few choices,” Boris sipped his coffee and looked at Hank with anticipation.

Hank took a sip of coffee, then another, and sat up a little straighter, his blue eyes were bright as he was thinking. Hank put his cup and saucer on the table and started his usual gesturing, “Well, I am still your doctor…how about this…”

They continued this discussion through two cups of coffee and actually enjoyed the time spent. They planned for several scenarios, (also talking about the reasons why) both with strictly business introductions and those on the more friendly side, as well as in either of those in ‘Boris’ circle’ and those in ‘Hank’s circle.’ 

Hank looked at his watch and exclaimed, “Hey! We’ve got to start getting ready for our evening out!”

 

One could easily visualize the two men in their sharp tuxedos out on the town for dinner and the symphony. Both were different yet both presented equally impressive figures of confidence, attractiveness, and vitality. People took notice of them; people didn’t have a choice but to pause and admire Mr. Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz and Dr. Hank Lawson as they were escorted to their table at Jean-Georges. 

Hank thought that he would never stop being amazed at how their security could be seen and not seen no matter where they went, even in the upscale restaurant. He wondered if it would be the same at the symphony hall.

Udo had secured the best table in the house, as usual, and during the course of the dinner Chef Jean-Georges himself came to visit them. Boris was very pleased to meet with Chef again, as it had been a while. They rose from their seats to greet the Chef. Boris said (in English for Hank’s sake), “Bonsoir, Chef, how have you been? Please allow me to introduce my partner, Dr. Hank Lawson,” Boris also held Hank’s arm, as they had practiced, because he wanted to show Hank how important the connection they had developed was to him in front of others; and others who mattered greatly to Boris. 

Chef was charming, animated, and very pleased that his friend, Boris, had finally returned to dine there and was doing well. Boris apologized and explained that his absence from coming to Chef’s restaurant was due to an extended illness of which Hank had cured him from. Chef welcomed Hank with warmth and sincerity, he said to Hank, “Please take good care of my dear friend Boris, Dr. Lawson, as he is more than worthwhile to keep alive and healthy.”

Dinner was, of course, magnificent; a restaurant does not receive a three-star Michelin rating for resting on its laurels. 

Of course, Chef went a little over the top with their dishes – in all of the best ways possible for them - by showing off skills that (in Chef’s mind) should have earned him a fourth star. Boris and Hank were overwhelmed and complimented Chef accordingly.

 

Udo had worked his magic as well for their experience at the David Geffen Hall where the New York Philharmonic performed. He wanted to make sure that both of his charges would have the most perfect evening. Sitting in the best box seat during the symphony, Hank would have sworn that Boris may have been a little misty-eyed at the beginning of the performance – it was Rachmaninoff, after all. 

They turned heads at the Hall as well; many gentlemen came up to them and specifically asked Boris about his cane. Hank whispered to Boris that he may have now started a new fashion trend in New York, with the cane, and teased that if Boris ended up on the cover of ‘CQ Magazine,’ Hank would be the first one in line to get his autograph. Boris replied that if that happened, he would have to purchase the entire printed lot and burn them in the fireplace at Shadow Pond.

At the VIP Reception, after the performance, Hank took the lead on introducing them to Mr. Alain, the New York Philharmonic’s conductor. Hank said, as everyone shook hands - it was a first time meeting, “Good evening, Mr. Alain, my name is Dr. Hank Lawson and this is Mr. Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz. We truly enjoyed the performance tonight,” Hank, too, held Boris’ arm as Boris had earlier. Mr. Alain noticed this, smiled and greeted them warmly and accepted the praise humbly. Mr. Alain then asked if either of them played any instruments, as he was also violinist and enjoyed speaking to patrons who also played. Hank replied in an amused tone, “Sir, Boris plays the cello and I listen to him play it.” 

 

 

Now back at the apartment after a full evening of enjoyment, Boris, who wanted to prolong his birthday celebration for just a little while longer, asked Hank, “Would you prefer some champagne or port and cigars to finish our evening?” 

Hank had untied his bow tie, and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, replied, “That’s a good question, you choose, it’s your birthday.”

Boris had hoped for this response because there was a very special bottle of champagne he was saving for a special occasion. When he purchased the bottle, there was no specific occasion in mind at the time, but tonight was indeed the night. “Champagne it is then!” he announced.

They were alone in the apartment now, having sent Udo off-duty for the remainder of the evening and the security on night detail. It was a stunning night; warmth was radiating off of the concrete and stone on the terrace. There was a cool breeze and the sky was clear. 

Boris retrieved the already chilled bottle, a silver ice bucket half full with ice, two lead crystal champagne flutes, and brought it all out on the terrace. Hank stood near the railing looking at the New York skyline. He turned around to see that Boris had begun to remove the cork, and said, as he walked over to the table, “Here let me do that. It’s your birthday and you don’t need to do anything, but just enjoy it.”

Boris bowed his head, swept his hands outward and stepped away from the ice bucket.

Hank then said, “So, by the way that you were carrying this bottle, I take it that it is something special.”

Boris replied, “Ja, it is very unique. It is Bouerl & Kraff Brut Rose Champagne from the Perpignan region in the south of France, near the border of Spain. It was bottled by the House of Drappier which uses only one acre of land to grow the very best grapes.”

Hank expertly popped the cork; Boris was impressed and applauded. As Hank started to pour the wine into the glasses, Boris cautioned him, “Take care now. Do not spill a drop; this wine comes at somewhat of a premium of a price, and it is delicious.”

Hank stopped in mid-pour, “Uh, just how much of a premium price?”

“Do you have firm grip on the bottle?” Boris asked plainly. He was enjoying this tease immensely.

“Yeeeesss…” was Hank’s nervous and drawn out reply.

“The bottle cost $2,198,” Boris stated.

“Oh, great,” was all that Hank could manage to say. He took great care filling their glasses and placed the bottle back in the ice bucket as if it was made of spun gold.

“Well done,” Boris said proudly.

Hank picked up the two glasses and brought them over to where Boris was now standing, near the railing with the skyline lit up behind him. Hank stopped a moment and admired the view of Boris and the skyline behind him for a moment.

Boris smiled, his tuxedo coat was open and he had also unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and put the button covers in his pocket. Boris tilted his head and said, “Hank?”

Hank shook his head to release the reverie he suddenly experienced, smiled and said, handing a glass to Boris, “I have to tell you something, Boris. First of all, I wish you a very happy birthday. Secondly, I believe that you have brought more happiness into my life than anything else that has happened in my life combined. You have showed me and nurtured me to find my true self and I can only imagine belonging to you. I should have always been with you; I don’t have anything to give you, except myself…and…I hope that will be enough. I only want you to be happy.”

Boris looked fondly at Hank and said, “My beloved Hank, thank you for the most perfect birthday celebration. I have enjoyed many things in my life, but have done so being mostly alone. Now that we can share in life together, can you fathom just how happy I am right now? You have made my life worth living in the finest ways possible and I too, can only imagine belonging to you.”

The two men touched their glasses and took a long sip at the fine wine. Boris’ eyes closed for a moment, as he savored the subtleties of the wine on his palette, and opened them to find Hank watching him with an amused smile on his face.

Then, Hank started to chuckle, he shook his head, and said with a laugh in his voice, “Oh boy…”

Boris tilted his head again, started to chuckle as well, and then asked, “What are we laughing about? Are we thinking the same thing, again?” 

They both took another sip of the wine.

Hank then said, “Um, do you know what just happened? I think we just proposed to each other.”

Boris then said, taking a step closer to Hank, “Yes, and yes…and you?”

“Oh, yes and yes.” Hank said with a wide smile.

 

~~~

 

Sometime around four a.m., Hank got out of bed to visit the bath room. Lights from the city were still bright and casting a soft silver light into the bedroom. As he returned, he saw the ice bucket with the empty champagne bottle in it, upside down and the two empty glasses nearby. Hank sighed, smiled and thought to himself, ‘gees, that was a lot of fun.’ Hank stood at the end of the bed looking down at Boris who was asleep with a calm, serene expression on his handsome face. Boris’ lean, naked torso and legs were just barely covered by the bed sheets, which pleased Hank tremendously.

They did drink the whole bottle of champagne and it was actually the first time that they had gotten a ‘good deal of drunk’ together (Boris’ words). The funny thing was that when Hank got a ‘good deal of drunk’ he turned more serious and philosophical, and when Boris got a ‘good deal of drunk’ he turned more light-hearted and even sang a raunchy tune. 

Hank climbed back into bed and rearranged the sheets and blankets to cover them both better. Hank was naked, as well, and as he stood by the bed, he had felt a chill in the air. 

Boris said quietly, “Are you all right, One?” 

Startled, Hank said softly, “Yeah, Tree, I am really good, did I wake you?”

“Yes, but that is of no matter; please come closer, I wish to hold you as we fall back asleep,” Boris replied.

 

~~~

Saturday morning light came into their bedroom determined to wake Boris and Hank. They had forgotten to draw the curtains before falling into bed. Little did Saturday morning light realize was that the two companions were already awake and quite busy in the shower…

…Hank then set about to shave and Boris began to brush his teeth. 

Hank asked cheerfully, “Are we going clothes shopping today? But NOT at Costco, right?”

Boris nodded his head, amused.

 

This day was to be all about getting new clothes for Hank, lunch at Eleven Madison Park, then a surprise (to Hank) visit to a jeweler which Boris had known for a very long time. Hank did not know, until this day, that Boris had commissioned matching rings for the two of them. Boris called them ‘wedding rings,’ but told Hank that he needed to tell him some important information before they would actually be able to wear them.

The rings were stunning: each ring was 24k gold (from Boris’ bank vault) with Boris’ family crest as a signet, the image included the rearing stag from the crest, and in space between the stag’s horns was a one carat diamond. The two matching diamonds had at one time been one stone, which the jewelry expertly cleaved, bruted, and polished. Today was the day that the rings were to be sized since both Boris and Hank were in New York. When the rings were finished, the jeweler would send them by express, bonded courier to Shadow Pond to be placed only in the hands of Boris and Hank; this was expected to happen prior to the next week end.

They returned back to the apartment in the mid-afternoon to relax and get ready for an early dinner out on the terrace.

Entering their bedroom quickly, Boris said, “I must change into some fresh clothes, Hank. Being outside in this city always leaves me feeling somewhat ragged and quite grimy.”

Hank appreciated Boris fastidious behaviors as it made him more attentive to himself. Boris quickly undressed and was in the shower before Hank even started picking out what he was going to wear at dinner. Hank watched, in the mirror, Boris bathe through the semi-opaque glass of the shower door and marveled at his lean, strong body. Hank looked at himself, compact with an athletic muscular build and wondered what Boris saw in him.

Little did Hank know, that Boris was watching, and admiring, Hank through the semi-opaque glass from inside the shower.

 

Dinner was relaxing for the two men, as they had had a very full day. The apartment faced east and the terrace was shaded in the late afternoon, making it the perfect spot to lounge the remainder of the day away.

Hank was excited about his new wardrobe, something he never experienced before. He never wanted to look shabby ever again and could only imagine what Evan would say. 

Boris had wanted to talk to Hank about the rings and the importance of them, as well as the upcoming business surrounding their union. Hank looked so happy during the course of the evening that Boris couldn’t bring himself to talk to Hank about business that night. Boris was also weary from their day. He decided to bring this discussion up tomorrow after breakfast. He wanted to prepare Hank for the meetings on Monday and hoped that Hank would understand and be amiable to what Boris’ attorneys had prepared for them. 

Boris felt a sudden wave of anger towards the world, his family clans, laws, and noble traditions for making their life so complicated. Now that Boris had found the love of his life, all he wanted to do was for the two of them to live their lives in peace, freedom, and comfort. Boris did remind himself that his attorneys had done a miraculous job of addressing every situation and made a mental note to make certain that they were provided with additional bonuses for all of their efforts. 

Over port wine and cigars after dinner, sitting on the outdoor lounge chairs, there was a sudden lull in their conversation and Hank saw a dark expression cross over Boris’ face. Hank asked gently, “Tree, are you feeling okay?”

“Ah, ja, I am fine. Please forgive me, One, I was, eh, thinking about some business just now.” Boris replied. “Business can be so rude and intrusive at times, yes? This day was marvelous, was it not?” Boris added, trying to change the subject.

Boris had not smiled when he spoke and Hank became worried. He put his glass down and his cigar in the ashtray and stepped over to Boris, then knelt down in front of him. Hank placed his hands on top of Boris’ thighs, looked deeply into Boris’ eyes and said in earnest, “Remember, you and I are together and that’s all that matters. Whatever crap the world throws at us, we will dodge and launch right back at them. If you need to talk about something, I am here, you know that, right?”

Boris was charmed by Hank’s concern and wholehearted support. He smiled slightly at Hank, and leaned forward to hold his beloved’s face in his hands, “You are indeed, my greatest treasure. Tomorrow, after breakfast, we have some business to discuss. I believe it is good business…for us…do not worry. I originally had different plans, but I have had to accept what is available and I greatly hope that you find these plans acceptable as well. We shall talk tomorrow, yes?” 

“Okay, then, and we’re still going for a long walk in Central Park, right?” Hank asked cheerfully.

“Of course, perhaps we can walk in the afternoon after lunch. I should like to relax and spend the entire morning here in the apartment with you, if you do not mind,” Boris said quietly.

Hank moved himself forward, smiled, and kissed Boris lightly, “I don’t mind at all.”

 

There was an added degree of attention that Boris paid to Hank at the beginning that night as they shared their love with each other; but Hank sensed that Boris also seemed to be very sad. Hank thought, for a moment, of what occurred on the terrace earlier that evening, and that Boris might have slipped back into the depression because there was a desperation Hank had not seen before when they were together. 

Hank reminded himself that he would watch Boris closely tomorrow. 

To Hank, it seemed that Boris was almost afraid of something, as if he was about to lose something precious to him. 

Little did Hank know that Boris had grown afraid of losing Hank. 

Hank then increased his attention on Boris assuring him over and over again that nothing would ever come between them. 

(Hank almost said ‘nothing short of death could separate them,’ but then thought better to not talk of something so final with someone so in need.) Hank then took control and focused all of his energies on Boris so that the pinnacle Boris reached was absolute and cleansing – and Hank hoped it would burn away any suffering that Boris experienced that night. 

Boris then lay completely spent with Hank’s loving arms wrapped around him. Boris shuddered as if he was cold, and Hank moved, but did not release Boris; as he reached down to pull a blanket up over them both. Hank shifted and then surrounded Boris with his entire body holding him tightly. Hank whispered in Boris’ ear many positive words and how much he loved him and that he always would. 

Boris shuddered again and then awakened find Hank surrounding him with his body. He held onto Hank tightly. Boris whispered, “I am sorry, Hank, for my being so weak…I am worried about some things and need to talk to you…I need to know what you think about these things, but I am so weary right now. Where are we?”

Hank became alarmed at this question, but answered Boris calmly, “You and I are in our bed in the New York apartment. We are safe here together, our security is protecting us.”

“Oh, this is good…I was confused for a moment...” Boris said softly and then drifted back into sleep.


	7. Reality, Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Nothing worth having comes easy.”  
> Certainly, for Boris and Hank, the worth of having each other overshadows the struggle and the pain.

Sunday morning seemed to come too quickly for Hank. He had spent the better part of the night awake; he cradled Boris and talked with him when Boris awoke several times during an already fitful sleep. 

Boris had asked Hank very simple questions whenever he awoke, almost as if he had lost the ability to process basic thoughts; there were questions like: “Is there water?” 

Hank would ask him, “Do you want some water, Boris?”

“No, I just wanted to know if there is water,” Boris replied and then fell back into sleep before Hank could answer him.

Boris was asleep at the moment, and was calmer than he had been the entire night. Hank was tired and eventually he fell asleep as well.

They were both still asleep at ten a.m. when Udo came to check on them, now for the third time that morning. Udo was concerned. He walked in carefully and quietly over to the bed to see if they were breathing. Something wasn’t quite right with the energy in the room, Udo sensed that something had happened overnight; but he was glad that they now appeared to be comfortable, covered with blankets, surrounded by pillows, and breathing steadily.

Udo walked away as quietly as he had arrived and closed the door silently. He planned to return in one hour to check on them again. 

A good portion of that hour later, Boris awoke slowly and tried to focus his eyes. His head ached and then he noticed he was lying next to Hank; Hank was sleeping, and Boris sighed in relief. Boris didn’t want to move because he thought he would feel worse. Boris tried to remember what happened and that made his head hurt even more. His body reminded him that he needed to go to the bath room, but he pushed the reminder away. He wasn’t going to move until Hank woke up. Boris moved his hand to touch Hank’s cheek. He didn’t want to wake Hank; Boris just wanted to know that Hank was real and there with him.

The touch was gentle, but it was enough to wake Hank and his eyes sprang open and focused on Boris who looked back at him. “Boris, I’m here, how do you feel?” Hank asked eagerly.

Boris blinked, smiled very slightly, and said, “My head aches and I need to relieve myself. I am not certain what has happened, may I get up now?”

“Yes, of course, let me help you,” Hank replied. Hank sat up and he helped Boris to sit up as well. 

“Oh, that was not as bad as I thought it would be, I mean, eh, sitting up,” Boris said in surprise and blinked again.

Hank reached over to the foot of the bed and grabbed their pajamas, which they both put on. Hank didn’t want them to get chilled. Boris was slow to move; he acted like he would break apart if he moved too quickly. Hank helped him to stand, Boris wavered a moment, but then nodded his head at Hank that he was fine. Boris looked at Hank and studied his face for a few moments, but did not say anything; it was as if he was trying to believe that he saw Hank standing in front of him; when Boris was satisfied that this appeared to true, he turned and walked slowly into the bath room.

Hank sat back down on the edge of the bed and his mind was in doctor-mode; he tried to figure out what had happened. Based upon the night before: Boris’ sudden dark expression and that he admitted concern over “their business”, as well as he had eluded to something not going the way he had planned, Hank suspected that what Boris had experienced was most likely a type of panic or anxiety attack. Hank also remembered the nightmare Boris had about the chess pieces several weeks prior. 

Hank set his mind to take extra care of Boris during the day; the first order of business was to get Boris to eat some breakfast and have his coffee. Hank sighed and thought, ‘I’ll just bet that Boris isn’t going to want to eat. Here we go again…’

Boris came out of the bath room, and he looked a little better; he had brushed his hair – that wild mane of his - he had straightened his pajamas and walked with more ease. He smiled slightly at Hank and asked, “Have you seen, Udo?”

As Hank opened his mouth to reply, Udo walked in and said cheerfully, “Here I am, Sirs, good morning. I have brought your breakfast and it is out on the terrace,” Udo was also carrying a tray with two glasses and a carafe of water.

“Good morning, Udo, thank you,” Boris took the glass of water which Udo poured for him and drank several sips from the glass.

Udo looked at Hank to see if he wanted a glass of water, “Uh, no thanks, Udo, I’ll have mine with breakfast.”

“Your breakfast is all arranged and it is very pleasant outside right now,” Udo suggested as he bowed and left the room.

Hank watched Boris, “Come on, Boris, let’s go have some breakfast together,” Hank said with a smile. 

“I am not hungry,” Boris replied flatly, as he looked around the room and finished drinking the glass of water.

Hank thought to himself, ‘I KNEW you were going to say that!’ 

But what Hank said was, “Please come and have breakfast with me,” Hank got up from the bed and went to Boris, placed his hands, one on top of the other on Boris’ chest at his heart and looked up at his companion with fondness.

Boris sighed and looked into Hank’s eyes; he simply could not deny Hank anything, even if it was just a breakfast croissant. “I know,” he replied as he placed both of his hands on top of Hank’s and nodded his head, “When I become…unsettled…I stop eating, yes?”

Hank nodded his head with an expression of: Yes…yes you do.

Then Boris wrapped his arms around Hank in a hug; he said quietly, “Thank you, my beloved One, for taking such good care of me. I will feel stronger after I eat, I do know this; you have trained me well. Perhaps after breakfast we should talk...” 

 

It was as pleasant as Udo said it was, out on the terrace, and the fresh air seemed to lift Boris’ spirits somewhat; the fresh air also revived Hank. Since it was nearly noon, Udo had brought a type of brunch for them and that seemed to entice Boris to eat a little more than Hank thought he was going to eat. Hank was prepared to go into ‘mother hen-mode’ again. Boris even asked for more orange juice and a little more of the St. Andre cheese.

 

Boris dabbed his lips with his napkin and placed it down on the table, then asked politely, “Would it be all right if we talked now, Hank? I do not wish to interfere if you have something else do.”

“You are just amazing, Boris. No, of course I don’t have anything else to do except to be with you and talk,” Hank said as he shook his head and smiled.

“Thank you, then let us go sit in the living room,” now Boris began to sound like Business Boris. 

They were still in their pajamas, although Boris has also donned a robe as he said he felt a little chilled.

Hank sat adjacent to Boris in the seating area of the living room. This was Boris’ preferred way to discuss business whenever they were ‘at home’. Hank gave Boris his full attention and was calm, yet eager. Hank wanted to hear about whatever it was that Boris needed to talk about, because Hank believed, whatever it was had caused Boris to suffer last night.

Boris asked, “What happened to me last night, Hank, after we were together? I only recall feeling incredibly apprehensive.”

“I believe that you had a type of panic, or anxiety attack, Boris. Whatever is bothering you, is bothering you in a very big way and you just shut down,” Hank stated.

“I see…ja, well, I hope that I did not cause any permanent damage. What we are going to talk now about is rather ‘big’,” Boris replied slowly.

A few moments passed and then Boris went into full business mode, he explained, “Hank, tomorrow we will be going to Festung Bank to meet with my…eh…now our attorneys at nine a.m. You have met some of them already and they will be very pleased to see you again. Because of what you and I have become: companions, and that we have committed ourselves to one another, it was necessary for me to take serious actions to protect us. And, as I have mentioned before that when my family hears of our union…”

“I remember,” and Hank quoted, holding up a hand, “ ’…the meltdown will be so great that parts of Europe will be lucky to survive it.’” 

Boris smiled slightly and looked fondly at Hank, “You did remember, very good. Hmm, well, my family has heard of ‘us’. The Kuester faction is currently in meltdown, the von Jurgen faction is still…deciding and critical, and the Ratenicz faction has accepted the news but they remain silent. We are dealing with both a family and a business meltdown.”

Boris wasn’t going to tell Hank that apparently the blogs and photos about Hank’s birthday party had started the family uproar; it would not have helped matters anyway if he did tell Hank, at this point in time. When Boris first found out, he had chuckled because he and Hank had only been initially curious about how the Hamptonites would react; that became the least of their worries now. Boris had expected that he would need to make specific arrangements and bring formal presentations to the family; the blogs had effectively eliminated that official process and had ramped up the entire situation.

“That is really interesting,” Hank said and wondered what all of those conversations had been like. Hank then realized just how much Boris had kept inside of himself. Boris had attempted to protect Hank from the early onslaught of negative family reactions and in doing so the effort had simply overwhelmed him. 

Boris said, “Quite. To show you what we are dealing with here, I need to share with you what the von Jurgen faction thinks, (Boris took a moment to translate it from German to English in his head, he looked off into the corner of the room, then returned his gaze back to Hank) and I quote: ‘We believe that Boris is in a phase; this obsession he currently has with this American, this doctor, this playmate of his, will not last; we shall wait it out until this passes and he returns to normal.’” 

Boris’ expression grew tight, his eyes dark grey and his jaw line tensed; Hank could tell Boris was experiencing a wave of anger and Hank felt completely insulted. 

Boris’ voice boomed as he stood up quickly and began to pace, “They dare think that they can speak to ME as if I am a child and have no knowledge of things or of the world! They dare to insult you in front of me! I have brought into the family great amounts of wealth through adept business management. I have expanded and diversified the family’s holdings across multiple lines of business and across the globe to ensure a lasting legacy for a least two generations. I personally have begun two humanitarian-based organizations, have plans in place to enlarge my hospital, as well as managed my own four businesses, and I have survived political intrigue, murder attempts, family illness, and suffered through age-old traditions which are no longer valid in this modern day…they think I am in ‘a phase’ - INDEED!” Boris practically spit the last part out.

Boris took a deep breath, and continued more quietly, “I was therefore forced to move quickly to stem more serious issues, aside from the family’s posturing, against monetary- and legally-based attacks which may arise, and there have been threats.”

“Threats?” Hank said, somewhat in shock, “Seriously, Boris?”

“Ja, and they are not beyond acting upon these threats. Now, this is where it becomes complicated. The legal aspect is a world onto its own. Simply because we are of the same gender, we are not allowed to live freely and legally and in the same way across the globe as heterosexual couples do,” Boris stopped pacing and looked at Hank, “I am a man of the world, Hank, and now you, by association, are as well. I will not change this way of life and intend for us to continue our life as a married and bonded couple, and we shall travel the world and be respected accordingly, as is due to us. My station in the overall history of my family provides me privileges which I fully intend to continue with, nothing can change that; these privileges are rightfully mine. We can be married here in America and recognized as such, but that marriage is not recognized in some other countries. In Germany, we will be filing a Civil Union as that is what is recognized there. And I say specifically Germany because that is where the majority of my family is currently located,” said Boris as he continued to again pace the room slowly in front of Hank, then Boris added, “I believe our attorneys have nearly completed that process and are making certain that whatever needs to be done, wherever it needs to be done, is done.”

Boris continued, “Now, another aspect of this is money. I have made certain arrangements, over the years, to separate my personal fortune from my family’s business fortune. Other family squabbles had alerted me to potential problems which could arise in the future, and so I have been very prudent. My personal fortune is quite protected now and based upon what has been determined my family knows nothing of how much I have amassed. They only suspect there is a personal fortune because they know how proficient I am in business. They are simply not happy with the family fortune and businesses, they desire mine as well. If the family knew of the actual value of my personal fortune, they would be…incensed…and even more so when they learn that they will not be receiving any of it when I die. The entire Festung Bank, the diamond mine and the winery in South Africa, a Tibetan hospital and its expansion, a school for orphans in Russia, a women’s college in Thailand, as well as the shipyard in Gibraltar have all been protected and are part of my personal fortune. The family has no legal right to any of this any longer; although I suspect at some time in the future, I will still have to put up defenses and fight them.”

Hank sat there, his back straight and tense, hands clasped tightly together in his lap, and he nodded to show Boris he understood everything. Hank’s expression was as serious as Boris’.

“As a married couple in America, if something happens to me, you will be my sole beneficiary as husband, and will receive all of which is mine personally,” Boris said, then took a breath and went on, “I have taken steps to make certain that the family will get the business fortune only, and they can simply choke on that for all I care now. I was incredibly foolish to expect that they would be more accepting and agreeable. I have also taken steps to make you my heir through the international courts, so that in countries which do not recognize our American marriage, if…something were to happen to me…you will still receive my personal fortune.” 

Boris stopped in front of Hank, arms held across his chest in typical Boris-fashion as he looked down at Hank who was still seated, “After I am gone, Hank, you shall be able to live out your life in complete comfort and safety. This is what I want for you. This apartment and Shadow Pond, all of the staff, the yacht, the jet plane, the helicopter, the automobiles, my businesses, and all of my personal possessions will be yours to do with what you will. I have changed my will and testament and several other documents that pertain to my estate to make you completely my sole heir and beneficiary. And what I said earlier about ‘our’ attorneys, I meant that they, Diane and her firm, are on an ‘ad infinitum’ retainer now for both us moving forward; and they will be at your beck and call for you in the future, just as they are now.”

Hank was at a loss for words. He looked up at Boris with a grim expression. Hank was thinking that they had just started their lives together, and now Boris talked about what would happen when he would die, “I don’t know what to say right now, Boris,” Hank said quietly. 

Boris continued, “Also, if something happens to both of us, I have decided that the personal fortune and the entire estate will be liquidated and the proceeds will be split equally and given to Hamptons Heritage, the orphan school, and the women’s college; my hospital in Tibet has a self-funding trust that will keep them viable and safe for at least 108 years,” then speaking through clenched teeth, Boris said, “I have seen to it that the factions of my family will not receive one ounce of my personal fortune.” 

Boris paused a moment and then went on, “Hank, you shall want to consider how you would like your personal interest to be; our attorneys will assist you with that – I thought it not proper for me to speak for you. Questions they will ask shall be along the lines of this: say that I have died and you have everything I have provided for you, what do you want to have happen to it all when you die?”

Hank said sadly, “You said that after you die, I will be able to live out my life in comfort and safety with all that you have left me. But, you won’t be here with me, how can that be a comfort?”

“It may not be comfortable in that sense, surely, there is nothing I can do about that aspect,” Boris smiled fondly at Hank and tried to ease his apprehension, “But you will need to decide what you want to do, before that scenario actually happens, yes? Whatever you choose to do, how you will live your life, you will have many choices. Hank, simply know this: life is cruel and you must be strong and make plans now, it is the only way to feel and exercise a sense of power and control over life.” 

Boris paused, stopped pacing for a moment and then said gently, “May I tell you what I have decided to do, in case you die before me?”

Hank looked down at the coffee table and took a deep breath. 

Boris was watching his companion and felt full of compassion for him; Boris knew that all of this was difficult for Hank. 

“Okay, I guess,” Hank replied quietly.

Boris went on slowly, “I have decided that if you die before me, I shall have no true purpose to live as I do now. There will simply be no joy in it any longer for me as it is now - I will not have you to share the world with. So, I have chosen to still have my fortune liquidated and it will still be split and given as I mentioned, but I shall go off to the monastery in Tibet, and become a monk…again…remind me to tell you that story sometime,” Boris paused a moment, then added, “I shall live out my life serving others and die happily there, knowing that the…best years of my life were spent with you.”

Udo had checked on them, in secret, about mid-way through Boris speaking. Udo saw their pained expressions and knew not to the disturb them. He wanted to care for them somehow, he wanted to bring them something to ease their distress, but wasn’t sure what he could do at this point, so he decided to wait a little longer.

“Tomorrow,” Boris said as he sat down on the couch again, next to Hank’s chair, “We will be signing many papers to all of these legalities. There will be a judge there, as well, to formalize everything.”

Boris took Hank’s hands into his own hands and held them firmly; he continued and looked deeply into Hank’s eyes with anticipation, “That is, of course, if you choose to continue along this route. I shall not force you into anything that you do not wish to do. I shall never do that. None of this business will change what we are; do not be anxious on that. This was what I worried most about last night: I worried that you…might change your mind…about being with me, about staying with me, because of all of these…complications.”

Hank sighed, looked down at their hands clasped together for a moment before he looked back up to meet Boris’ eyes, and then said with conviction, “No, I won’t change my mind. So that’s what hit you last night? You didn’t need to worry about me! I am with you until the end, Boris. You’ve thought of everything and it makes sense to me. I will sign whatever papers that will make us safe and sound together; that’s all I care about. Yeah, I know that with great power comes great responsibility and all I see right now is an entire world on your shoulders. I will stay with you to help you carry it. Don’t worry, I’ll be the least of your worries, and…” he paused, his expression changed to a sly one, “I have to say that it’s actually kinda clever how you are yanking the rug out from underneath the family. For how poorly they have treated you, and are treating you, they deserve this.” 

Boris nodded, smiled very slightly and then said gently, “I am sorry that the whole world will not recognize our marriage, Hank. How preposterous the world is, but…we shall be married in spirit wherever we are, yes?”

Hank now flashed a charming smile at Boris, “I have an idea…”

Boris tilted his head and asked, as he admired the sparkle that returned to Hank’s eyes, “What are you thinking of?” Boris’ mood began to lift as well.

They released their hands; Hank had ideas and when that happened, he needed his hands to gesture.

Hank said very eagerly now, “Okay, tomorrow is Monday, and all of the paperwork will be signed. The judge will stamp his approval, or whatever happens like that, and it’ll be done and settled, right? You and I will be legally married. Then we go home to Shadow Pond and when the rings arrive - the jeweler said the courier will deliver them by Friday? On Saturday morning, let’s go to ‘our’ beach, we’ll take the rings with us and give them to each other; it’ll be our own private little ceremony. Then, we can have brunch at this really nice restaurant I know, which is close to that beach; I think it’s called the Topping Rose House. We have to take the time celebrate this!”

“Yes, I have been there. It is very nice,” Boris said warming to this idea.

“I’m not done yet…” Hank continued as his hands moved in front of him.

“Hmmm?” Boris replied, very curious now. 

Hank then said, “How about we invite Evan, Divya, and Jeremiah to join us for brunch, and when they arrive, we can surprise them and tell them about us being married. It would be a nice, small get-together – not a party or a full blown wedding, where, you know, we’d have to kiss each other in public.”

“I…” Boris stopped for a moment and then said, “do like your beach and brunch idea very much, Hank. I would not feel at all comfortable with sharing any of our… private affection…in a public setting. May I also make a suggestion?” 

“Of course!” Hank replied cheerfully.

“This may sound overly sentimental…please forgive me, One, but let us both wear white; and well…I may just as well open my romantic fool-of-a-heart completely to you now, but I would like us to have red lotus buds in our jacket lapels,” Boris said gently.

“Tree, it’s okay, you know you can be your true self with me, always. Really, red lotus buds? Why?” Hank asked.

“I learned a long time ago, and grew quite fond of this notion: the lotus bud is a symbol of potential. A red lotus bud indicates rebirth and desire. I should like to think that this is very appropriate to us, yes?” Boris offered.

“Yeah, that sounds perfect! How do you know all of this stuff? Can you imagine the looks on their faces when they walk in and see us…wow!” Hank said in a giddy tone.

Boris studied Hank’s eager face again; Hank’s eyes were the bright blue that Boris adored. Boris’ eyes were bright, also, and almost silver as the light from the windows reflected into them.

Just then, Udo entered the living room and they both looked at him with considerably more positive expressions than when he saw them a short while ago. Udo felt relief, great relief. He asked, “Sirs, may I bring you anything?”

“Ja, Udo, I would like to have some coffee now, and some sort of pastry with dark chocolate in it. Hank?” Boris said with his hand in front of him, his long fingers moved slightly as if trying to make the shape of a pastry; Boris turned to Hank.

“Yeah, coffee would be perfect, I’d like that danish with raspberry stuff on it, please!” Hank replied.

Then Boris said, “Ah, Udo, we shall need to plan a beach walking trip and a brunch for this Saturday. We shall talk more about this when we get home.”

“Very good, Sirs; I shall be pleased to assist. Please excuse me now to arrange for your coffee and pastries,” Udo said with a smile, turned quickly and left the room. Udo was very happy.

 

 

Boris and Hank never made it to Central Park that afternoon for their walk; it would have to be the ‘next time’ they came to New York. They decided to just stay in and Hank made a big deal that both of them had worn their pajamas all day long. Boris was appalled at the reminder that he had not worn a suit at all, but Hank said joyfully, “We’ve just had our first Pajama Day!” 

Boris asked, and almost pleaded, “Should we not at least change for dinner?”

Hank emphatically said, “No, we will not change for dinner!”

Boris rolled his eyes and then said, “Er, I suppose now you should like to order the delivery-of-pizza to this apartment, eat it at the coffee table and watch the television?”

Hank’s face became very excited and he called for Udo to help, “Yes, that’s a great idea, Boris! Udo! Do we have some cold beers here, too?” 

“Oh good lord,” was all that Boris could say as he put his hand to his forehead.

And so, that evening, Boris had lived through his first Pajama Day, survived the delivery-of-pizza-and-cold-bottled-beers, and watched Hank channel surf in their New York penthouse apartment.

“Udo,” Boris called out somewhat hesitantly, pointing to the pizza box on the coffee table, “Eh, I shall need a need a knife and a fork, please, to eat this pizza with…oh, and a glass, too, for the beer…”

 

~~~

 

The next morning, at Festung Bank, Boris and Hank arrived and were dressed impeccably; Boris wore a beige pin-striped suit and a peach shirt, Hank wore a dark brown suit with a patterned blue shirt. And because it was a day of important business, they also wore silk ties that coordinated with their suits. Boris insisted, too, that Hank wear a pocket square (as he always did) and continued to teach Hank about the gentlemen’s-style dress code; Boris had to help Hank fold the pocket square properly. “Please do not use the pocket square, Hank, it is for style only,” Boris instructed. Boris also had his now ever-present cane with him. 

Promptly at nine a.m. they greeted their attorneys in the main board room.

Hank said to Diane, holding up his hand in Boy Scout fashion, “I won’t be using your laptop today, Diane, I promise.” Everyone in the room laughed, including Boris.

They were also introduced to Judge William J. Rhinehart, III, who was brought in specifically to officiate over for their personal business.

Many stacks of legal papers had been prepared, processed, and arranged to receive both Boris’ and Hank’s signatures: Heir Designation papers, Civil Union documents, Last Will and Testaments, the Estate Plan, Property Deeds to the New York penthouse apartment and the Shadow Pond estate, (amongst a myriad of other forms that covered everything else) and last, but certainly not least, their Marriage License.

Boris was extremely pleased with the level of detail that was spread before him; he could now relax, somewhat, in the knowledge that he and Hank were now legally complete. As decades of family and business intrigue temporarily fell behind him, Boris could now attend to their personal physical safety. Boris made a mental note to meet with Khalil as soon as they returned to Shadow Pond.

Hank tried very hard to not be engulfed by the vast sea of legality in front of him; he had never been good or comfortable with details like this, it just wasn’t his ‘thing’ (as he liked to call it). Hank had just always wanted to be a doctor and help people to get well, and was quite happy to let others take care of the paperwork; he was grateful for Boris to take the lead on all of this. Hank held the $455 Diabolo De Cartier Pen presented to him to write his signature on the forms just as he had held the special champagne bottle, with extra care, and because he was Hank, with extra worry. 

After all of the papers had been signed, the last step was to stand before the Honorable Judge Rhinehart as he performed their marriage ceremony. Boris explained to the Judge that their rings weren’t actually available until Friday, and subsequently reached into his suit coat pocket and retrieved two paper Montecristo cigar bands. He held them in his open hand, in front of Hank and the Judge and asked respectfully if they would suffice in the meanwhile.

 

After a quick lunch on the penthouse apartment terrace, they packed, and flew back to Shadow Pond. 

 

Boris stepped out of the helicopter and onto the lawn that afternoon, he looked around, proudly surveying the Shadow Pond property and said, “Ah, Hank; it is indeed good to be home, ja?” Boris then looked at Hank, who had exited the helicopter with a big smile on his face.

 

Later that night, Boris asked gently, “Are you all right? You have been very quiet,” Boris looked down at Hank as they lay beside each other on the bed; Hank’s head was on the pillow and Boris’ head was propped up by his hand and arm. Boris’ other hand was on Hank’s chest at his heart.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. I‘m just a little amazed still by what happened this morning. You know that I’m not very savvy about all of that legal stuff,” Hank admitted quietly and felt slightly embarrassed about it.

Boris lightly kissed Hank’s forehead and said, “Here is yet another reason why we are meant to be together, I shall take care of our business health and you shall take care of our personal health. I must admit that I felt very happy when neither of us hesitated as the Judge asked ‘do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…’”

Hank’s eyebrows knitted together and he asked, as he looked up at Boris with a little bit of alarm, “Why would we hesitate? Did you really think that I would change my mind and run away from you?”

“Well, ja, I had been…concerned,” Boris admitted, “that the serious nature of my life could have…frightened you away from me. You are always so light-hearted; what I bring to our table is quite burdensome.”

Hank reached up, took Boris’ face in his hands and kissed him repeatedly as Hank rolled Boris onto his back. The kissing continued and as Hank moved his body on top of Boris’, he said, “This is the only burden you should be carrying…” 

 

~~~

 

Both men had slept very well that night; after all, they were back at home at Shadow Pond. During breakfast, Hank wanted to be the one who called the restaurant; he apologized to Udo. Gracious as ever, Udo understood. Hank made reservations for an eleven a.m. brunch on Saturday, for a party of five. 

 

Boris asked Khalil to join them after breakfast so that they could discuss not only the security detail needed for the beach walk and the brunch, but also to touch on the more serious nature of increasing overall security around Shadow Pond. Udo was present as well at the meeting as he needed to be completely aware of everything that was planned.

Boris also asked Udo to arrange for two, red lotus bud boutonnieres to be ordered and he wanted them to be delivered on Friday afternoon. Boris stated that he wasn’t concerned as to where in the world the buds would come from, or how much they would cost (they were rare), but that they simply needed to be at Shadow Pond by Friday afternoon.

 

Hank looked at his watch and said that it was now a great time to call Evan because he, Divya and Jeremiah were having their usual morning weekday meeting. He put the call on speakerphone so that Boris could hear the conversation, “Hi Evan, Boris is on the phone with me…”

“Hank, it’s good to hear from you, Bro! Hey, Boris, hope you are doing well. How was New York?” Evan asked and seemed to be genuinely interested.

“Oh, you know New York, Evan, there’s always something going on there,” Hank replied slyly as he looked at Boris. 

Boris replied, “Good morning, Evan, all is well, thank you for your interest.”

Hank changed the subject quickly, because he knew that Evan would launch into a lot of questions, he asked, “Is Divya and Jeremiah there with you?”

“Yeah, they…” Evan was drowned out by the others loudly speaking their greetings.

“Great! Boris and I would like to invite the three of you to join us for brunch at the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton near Sag Harbor, this Saturday at 11 am. Can all of you make it?” Hank asked cheerfully.

“Wow, swanky place. I’m in,” said Evan.

“That sounds lovely, thank you, I will be there,” said Divya’s sweet voice.

“Thank you, I will be there as well,” replied Jeremiah.

“Great, we’ll see you then. Have a great week!” Hank replied.

“We look forward to seeing all of you on Saturday,” Boris stated.

Hank hung up the phone, “All set! This will be the best Saturday ever! But I am little sad that there won’t be anyone from, um, ‘your side of the church’ at the brunch, Boris.”

“Do not worry, Hank; we shall soon be traveling the world and we will have an opportunity to spend time with people from ‘my side’ as you say,” Boris said this as sincerely as he could because he wasn’t entirely certain that there would be anyone from his ‘side’ who would want to meet them. Boris pushed that thought away for the time being…

 

Friday arrived at Shadow Pond quickly, as Boris and Hank had many things to catch up on during the week since they had been gone the extra-long weekend. 

Boris had another meeting with Khalil, when Hank was out on a run, as he had wanted to make certain that the safety of everyone at Shadow Pond would be assured. Boris didn’t tell Hank, just yet, that he had received more threats from the Kuester faction. Boris was not entirely certain that the threats came only from the Kuester faction; his intuition told him that the von Jurgens may also have been involved. Khalil had been able to modify and increase security to a level not seen at Shadow Pond before. Like his bank, Shadow Pond was nearly a fortress now.

Boris was bound and determined to make the troublesome family factions understand that this was the way it was going to be and that the sooner they all became accustomed to it, the easier all of their lives would become. Boris had additional contacts all over the world and had already begun to connect with these contacts with a secondary plan in mind. Boris was pleased that the family factions did not know about his any of contacts.

At around the three p.m. coffee time, two couriers arrived at Shadow Pond. The first courier was escorted by Misha (one of Khalil’s men) who delivered the custom rings directly into Hank’s hands; the second courier was escorted by Udo who delivered the red lotus bud boutonnieres directly into Boris' hands.

Boris and Hank sat at an outdoor table on the upper lawn under the shade of a wide umbrella and after everyone had left, they opened both packages together…

 

~~~

 

“I am sorry that we did not ride in your car today, Hank,” Boris said as he looked at the sand passing beneath his bare feet, “I would have enjoyed the open air of the convertible, like before.”

“That’s okay, Boris, I understand that we have to be a little more careful right now. I have faith that these problems won’t last forever. You and I? Well, we know how to wait patiently, don’t we?” Hank replied as he nodded his head, “I do feel kinda bad that Khalil and his men have so much more work now.”

“Please do not worry about them, Hank, they are more than adept at what they do and actually are eager for challenges such as we have now. Khalil says that it keeps them, what was the American military word he used? Hmmm, ah, yes, he said ‘challenges keep them frosty’. I have made certain they know that we greatly appreciate all of them and their efforts on our behalf. We pay them very well and aside from that, they are very loyal to us. They have been with me for many, many years, and through worse times than this,” Boris stated and shrugged his shoulders at the same time.

The two men continued to walk slowly, closely side-by-side, and without shoes, down the white sand beach. The weather was not hot as it was only ten o’clock in the morning. They were quite alone on that section of the beach as well; the crowds and the heat didn’t usually arrive until noon. The ocean was a stunning azure blue with only small gentle ripples touching the shoreline. It was very quiet with only the eager cries of seagulls infrequently breaking the silence. 

They both wore white shirts and pale-toned trousers. When they dressed for the day, Hank teased that he was glad that the colors of their suits was slightly different because he didn’t want anyone to make the mistake and think that they were twins. Boris actually laughed out loud.

To walk the beach, they left their jackets, shoes, and Boris’ cane in the Porsche Sedan Panamera. There was a security detail guarding all of the five vehicles that were used for the activities of the day.

“You look really nice in white, Boris,” Hank said almost shyly. 

“Thank you, Hank, light colors agree with you, as well,” Boris replied amused by this shyness.

They looked at each other and smiled; both men were thinking the same thing: that it had been a perfect day so far, and they hoped that nothing would spoil it. 

 

Boris had finally shared the details of the increased threats with Hank, as he felt it wasn’t proper any longer to shelter him as he had before; Khalil’s extra security was very much more noticeable now. 

Hank made certain that Boris knew how grateful he was for this sharing. Hank also teased Boris about keeping too much bottled up inside. Hank even quoted something that Boris had said when they had first arrived in New York, “If you explode, ‘then poor Udo will have to clean up the mess’,” Hank then scolded Boris, “No more holding information inside anymore; I really don’t want you to collapse again because you are really starting to rack up some very expensive doctor bills. I worry too much about you!”

Boris’ reply was something that he caught from a American Western movie they had channel surfed through when they were in New York on the delivery-of-pizza-and-beer night; Boris stated, “I believe that you shall have to ‘take it out of my hide’ then if you want payment, Dr. Hank.”

Hank’s mouth fell open and he was unable to say anything for a moment. That moment gave Boris ample time to put a smug expression on his face.

Boris continued, “And so when did you plan to exact payment from me, Dr. Hank?”

 

Now, they were in this together completely. In an odd way too, which Boris found difficult to describe, Boris felt ‘relieved’ to be able to share this part of the rather dangerous aspect of their life now with Hank. Hank’s positive energy and seemingly boundless determination gave Boris an added sense of comfort. Hank had also said, “It’s what partners do – we help carry the burden together.”

Boris was accustomed to the added security, but Hank was not. Khalil’s men, all dressed in black, dotted the transition between the beach and the grassy areas and were an extremely noticeable force. There were also two guards walking behind and two walking in front of Boris and Hank (both pairs were well out of earshot), and they matched Boris’ and Hank’s walking speed to maintain a buffer. Khalil also had wanted to have a Zodiac with two men in the water to shadow them, but Boris declined this.

“Boris, how do you just ignore the increased security around us?” Hank asked.

“You do not ignore it, Hank, they simply become part of the view that you see. All of these men keep their senses alert for 360 degrees, but they are also focused on us; this is so that if either of us needed them in a split moment, a facial expression, a hand gesture, or a vocal command would alert them to take action. It is a symbiotic relationship,” Boris said plainly, he understood Hank’s apprehension; Hank never had to be involved in anything that required this elaborate of a process, “I know this shall sound strange to you, but out here,” Boris spread his hands and arms wide to demonstrate, “this is actually quite a private space right now.”

“Yeah, I get that they can’t hear us, at least I don’t think they can...” Hank said somewhat nervously as he looked around them.

Boris chuckled, “No Hank, they could only hear us if one of us was wearing a wire, or if they had the remote long-range audio capture device activated – which they do not, I declined that as well as the Zodiac team.” 

“Oh. But…they can see us,” Hank offered.

“Yes, they see and yet not see us. They are trained to notice intentions that would inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile actions towards us. Believe this or not, if I were to kiss you right now, they would not notice it,” Boris replied somewhat amused.

They continued to walk casually down the beach; each man appreciated the other’s company simply by doing something they both enjoyed: walking together. 

Boris stopped, turned to Hank, looked deeply into his eyes, and said quietly, “Are you ready to now truly begin our life together, Hank?”

Hank stopped, turned to Boris, met his gaze, smiled and said, “Ready, willing, and able, Boris.”

Boris smiled a sincere smile and took Hank’s ring out of his pocket; he reached to hold Hank’s left hand with his own right hand; Boris’ hand felt cool when he touched Hank’s warm hand. Boris began to place the signet ring on Hank’s middle finger (which is where they both decided to wear their rings but on opposite hands); and as he moved it all of the way onto Hank’s finger, Boris confidently said, and looked into Hank’s eyes, “Hank Lawson, I thank you for becoming my husband; I shall love, cherish, and care for you until my dying day.”

Hank beamed an enormous smile as Boris released his hand. Now Hank reached into his pocket and repeated the same movements that Boris had made. Hank said with pride and a wide smile, as he slipped Boris’s ring upon the middle finger of his right hand, “Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz, thank you for becoming MY husband; I will also love, cherish, and care for you until the day I die.”

There was a moment, when they two men simply looked at each other, smiled in the small knowing way that came to them naturally now, and then they embraced with such intent that no one would have been able to separate them.

 

The Topping Rose House was touted as a ‘Luxury haven in the heart of the Hamptons, where old and new came together harmoniously’. Boris and Hank were there now. Their guests would be arriving at any moment and they enjoyed the atmosphere of the private space in the dining room. Hank didn’t recall that he had requested a private room, but he was very happy about it. There were vases with fresh flowers set about the room, a glittering table service was set, and lilting music played in the background.

Neither Hank, nor Boris, knew that Udo had secretly intervened once again and made a special request of the restaurant to treat the two gentlemen with extra special care by utilizing a private room, and elegant décor and table arrangements. Udo had also requested for the hotel and restaurant staff to be utterly discreet. When Boris and Hank arrived with their security detail, (all five, very black cars) the staff then fully understood how important they were and the staff performed exceptionally and appropriately.

Boris and Hank stood next to each other, looking ultra-stylish in their light summer suits and now wearing their shoes; the red boutonnieres stood out in sharp, but sophisticated contrast on their jackets. Boris held his cane. Both men kept glancing at their hands, and each other’s, and found themselves admiring their matching wedding rings.

They turned towards the entry way when Evan, Divya, and Jeremiah were escorted all together into the private room. When the three of them, saw the two of them, there were smiles and exclamations offered all around; the three rushed towards the two and shared enthusiastic handshakes and hugs. Boris was so pleased that he allowed himself to be hugged…even by Evan. They exchanged side-looks and Boris, said, “This shall not become a habit.”

When the three had entered the private room, Evan shouted, “Hey! Divya YOU were right! Dudes! You did it, really!”

“Oh, you two look so handsome together!” Divya exclaimed as she was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

“Congratulations,” said Jeremiah seriously and sincerely as always.

At that moment, the Master Sommelier popped the cork on a 1994 Lanson NV Extra Age Brut Champagne that was served to the group in tall, cut crystal flutes and the joyful brunch began. 

 

Khalil’s team had two situations to manage from the time that Boris and Hank walked on the beach to after the brunch. 

The first incident was that security had discovered someone with binoculars watching the entire group on the beach from a distance just as they begun their walk. That individual was relieved of his binoculars and his cell phone (he was searched), reminded that he need not be doing what he was doing and then was escorted to a safe, yet very distant empty stretch of road at the South end of Long Island. 

The second incident was another unknown person who appeared to be more interested in the brunch party than he should have been and was quickly and quietly removed from the Topping Rose House property. The same two security team members took that intruder to a safe, yet very distant empty stretch of road at the North end of Long Island. That person was relieved of his cell phone (he was searched also) and was reminded that he need never to bother the group nor the hotel ever again.

Khalil was very satisfied that he had brought along an ‘outer perimeter’ sixth vehicle with two additional guards. This proved very helpful and it would reflect so in his report to Boris and Hank. Khalil and Boris had a standing agreement that Khalil had complete permission to trust his instincts and act upon them for the safety of everyone at Shadow Pond.

 

A late and very private dinner was served to the newlyweds in their bedroom apartment. Udo prepared a lovely table arrangement for them and Chef Henri prepared a light repast. Boris and Hank enjoyed the time alone and recalled the many meals that had been served in their apartment during Boris’ convalescence; they also reflected on how this meal had quite a different feel to it than those other meals did.

After enjoying a dessert of the tiniest and most elaborate chocolate ganache wedding cake that either of them had ever seen, Boris brought out his cello and played for Hank two pieces of music, one for each of them: something classical for himself: the ‘Arioso from Cantata # 156 for Cello’ by Johann Sebastian Bach (referred to as elegant walking music) and a torch jazz piece for Hank called ‘At Last’, which had been composed by Harry Warren and first performed by vocalist, Etta James.

Hank was enthralled by Boris’ performance; two completely different pieces of music and yet Boris played them both with obvious devotion to perfection. His silver grey hair became quite wild from his movements; his face expressed a fierceness to it that showed his passion. 

Hank’s memory was suddenly and forcefully ripped back in time to the evening when the group had gone on the scavenger hunt to find the source of the music that they heard and how they intruded upon Boris playing that music. It was that very moment when they had entered the Music Room, the invasion – that memory hit Hank very hard. 

When Boris finished playing, he stood up. Hank could not control himself and quickly and forcefully went up to Boris and embraced him tightly. 

Boris was trying to settle the instrument and bow carefully back into its stand and had to take one step back with his right foot to brace himself from being knocked over by Hank. He looked at Hank with deep concern. Boris reached over to finish what he was doing with the cello so that it wouldn’t fall over.

“Hank?” Boris asked with alarm.

Hank shook his head because he couldn’t say anything at the moment. 

Boris wrapped his arms around Hank in a gentle but firm embrace in an attempt to calm him; Boris took one hand and guided Hank’s head to his shoulder and caressed his hair with the hope that whatever distress had suddenly come upon Hank would subside. 

They were very quiet and still in the embrace for many moments. Boris waited patiently for Hank to speak; Boris also kept his mind clear, so that he would be ready for anything, and he did not assume what Hank may have been feeling.

Softly, and haltingly, Hank finally said, “I…just remembered…the night when I first saw you playing. It was… We barged in on you and invaded your privacy…and you were so incredibly sick back then… I didn’t know; I could’ve helped you sooner…”

“Shhh, now, there is no need to be upset, my beloved One, all is well. Look at what we have now become to each other, so different than then, yes? So much better,” Boris spoke calmly in his deep voice.

Hank closed his eyes, eased his tense hold somewhat and relaxed into Boris’ embrace. He could feel Boris speaking as well as hear him speak and this gave Hank the comfort he needed. Hank sighed very deeply and stayed in the embrace a few moments longer.

Boris held onto Hank until Hank began to release him. They looked at each other; Boris gave Hank a small all-knowing smile within a calm and fond expression which Boris hoped would further ease Hank’s anguish. Inside though, Boris felt quite worried for Hank, this situation was very unusual.

Hank blinked and smiled, though weakly, back at Boris. 

“Come with me,” Boris said gently, “let us sit down for a moment over here,” Boris guided Hank to the seating area by the window. The curtains had been drawn and the lamp which was in that area gave off a warm friendly glow. Hank sat down tentatively, and Boris knelt in front of him, placing his hands on top of Hank’s thighs. Boris looked up at Hank with a comforting expression and simply waited for him to say or do whatever Hank chose to say or do next. 

“Um, I wasn’t expecting this. Your music, Boris, it…just gripped me,” Hank said as he slowly came out of the sadness.

“I understand; I should like to think that there was a piece of unfinished business in your mind that the music had triggered. Now, you will feel a serenity and even though you will still have the memory, you will be troubled by it no longer,” Boris said calmly.

Hank looked at Boris curiously, “You always surprise me with things that you know or have learned or have experienced. That is exactly how I feel right now.”

“Breathe deeper; you are taking shallow breaths and those will not help to cleanse you,” Boris instructed gently, “May I get you something to drink?”

Hank looked out at different places in the room, and Boris followed him with his head and his gaze as he attempted to bring Hank back to the center, to where they were at that moment. Boris gently directed, “Look at me, Hank.”

Finally, Hank stopped his wandering gaze and looked at Boris, who now sat back on his heels as he thought that he might have been too close for comfort for Hank at that moment. Boris smiled a calm smile at Hank and blinked slowly.

Hank started to say something and then closed his mouth. Boris waited patiently and gave no indication that he was in a hurry, or eager, or forcing Hank to do anything. He simply waited with a serene smile, a gentle expression, and calm energy.

“Stay here and rest. I shall get us something,” Boris said as he stood up, his long legs unfolding. 

Hank followed Boris’ gaze upward, and Boris was now towering over Hank, but Hank didn’t feel intimidated at all. Hank actually felt protected and briefly thought to himself, ‘My Tree’.

Boris walked slowly over to a credenza near the fireplace, where there was always a bar service set with Boris’ finest liqueurs. Boris arranged two crystal snifters, chose a dark liquid from an equally dark bottle and poured some into each glass. He had chosen his oldest, 20 years, and most favored Graham’s Tawny Port Wine.

He walked back to where Hank was still seated. Boris set the glasses down on the small table next to Hank and then pulled the matching chair over closer to the table. Boris was careful to not pull the seating area in too closely, nor have it too far apart. Boris sat down in the other chair, and picked up both glasses and he then handed one to Hank, “Take a sip, Hank, this is as smooth as silk and sweet and I believe you will enjoy it,” Boris said quietly as he deliberately made his movements slow.

Hank felt the heavy liquid on his tongue and kept the sip in his closed mouth for a moment; and then became interested, and distracted, by the flavors as they were changed by the warmth of his mouth. The port wine worked its magic with Hank as he seemed to climb out of the dark mood little by little. Boris smiled slightly as he swirled and watched the liquid in his glass and continued to wait patiently for Hank.

“Oh, this is nice, Boris, really nice. It changes as it warms up,” Hank finally said and then looked at Boris “Thank you…for everything.”

“You are welcome, my beloved One. May I ask how do you feel right now?” Boris asked delicately so as not to spark anything uncomfortable. Boris looked for signs of what he would need to do next with Hank to help him.

“I’m okay now. Thank you. Whew! Where did that come from? No! I don’t want to know. It came and now it’s gone,” Hank said to Boris and also for his own sake.

Boris smiled, still calm, still quiet, still enjoying the port wine, still simply being there for Hank.

“I am very glad to hear that, Hank…eh…” Boris started to say something, but then stopped and hoped that Hank didn’t hear it.

“Eh…what? You were going to say something?” Hank became curious and looked at Boris with a brightening expression.

‘Merde, he caught me’, Boris thought, but continued, “Eh…I was going to say that I thought my playing had somehow turned sour and that you were trying to make me stop by hugging me so tightly,” Boris admitted, he hoped that Hank would understand he was trying to make a joke.

“Boris, you just made a joke, didn’t you?” Hank said, now considerably more cheerful.

“I tried, ja.” Boris replied with a deadpan expression.

 

They continued to enjoy the port wine and the peacefulness of the late evening. Hank had learned how to pace himself through these ‘beverage appreciation times’ (as he called them) and match Boris, rather than drink his beverages too quickly. Hank would ask questions to learn more about the drinks’ subtleties that seemed to give Boris a great deal of pleasure; Boris enjoyed teaching Hank what to be aware of and encouraged him to develop his own favorite flavor profiles.

Hank took the last sip and put the glass on the table. Boris was one sip away from finishing when Hank said, “I need you.”

Boris took his last sip and said, “I need you also,” as he placed his glass on the table.

 

In their darkened bedroom apartment, now only one lamp on Hank’s nightstand was lit. It cast a soft amber glow which encompassed only their bed. The rest of the room, the house, and the world had become unimportant and unnoticed.

Boris and Hank were there, together, entwined with each other; bed sheets and blankets jumbled and draped, more in some places less in others. They continued to move, there was ebb and flow, a ballet of arms and legs, hands, heads and lips… Their breathing was intense, sometimes rapid, sometimes held. Deep, soft sounds escaped their throats; their words whispered into each others’ ears.

Boris pulled away, but only slightly, and looked deeply into Hank’s eyes – studying, memorizing, capturing. Hank returned the gaze – reaching into and holding gently the soul of his true partner. There was the gift of an all-knowing smile that each man gave to the other.

Boris made movements with his body that increased a wave of pleasure for Hank, which he closed his eyes to receive; then in another moment, Hank moved his strong and nimble hands to build a wave of pleasure for Boris and he murmured his receipt of it.

Ebb and flow, sharing, one taking and one giving and then reversing; strong powerful bodies and minds which could harm and destroy knew no such concepts during this night – for now, there was only passion, love, and caring. Then, there were more urgent movements which built desire upon emotion, as the two companions, now husbands, sought to give each other the ultimate gift of ecstasy.

No further words were needed by Boris and Hank as they shared in each other on their wedding night; but if one could have chosen a poem to describe them, it would have been the one written by the 13th century Sufi poet and mystic Maulana Jalal-al-Din Rumi:

‘The minute I heard my first love story  
I started looking for you.  
Not knowing how blind that was.  
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.  
They’re in each other all along.’ 


	8. Rhythm, Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is often all too real, all too wonderful, and all too painful.

Spending time in the Library of Shadow Pond had become a new and favorite afternoon past-time for Boris and Hank. It was early August in the Hamptons and this season had proved itself to be a hot one. Although the entire house was climate-controlled, there was something about the Library which made it feel cooler. Perhaps it was because there were no windows to let the daylight in, or perhaps the dark tones of the wood shelves, walls, ceiling, and floor made it feel cooler; it really didn’t matter. Boris and Hank now spent a few tranquil hours there nearly every afternoon. Sometimes there was reading to be done (there were over 3,000 books on the shelves) and sometimes there was work or discovery to be done on their laptops. Boris, more often times than not, was the one with a book in his hands; and Hank was the one with the laptop. Conversation between them was usually minimal, since neither of them wanted to disturb the other, and it felt comfortable that they just shared the time together.

Udo knocked once on the door and entered with the rolling cart which held their afternoon coffee service. 

“Ah, thank you Udo, always on time,” said Boris as he looked up from his book and over the rim of his reading glasses.

“It is my pleasure, Sirs; may I prepare your coffees?” Udo asked politely.

Boris always let Hank answer first. This too was part of the new pattern.

“Yeah, thanks Udo,” said Hank; he looked up briefly from his laptop as he was still engrossed in what he was reading, “Oh wait! Do I see cookies?!” Hank was very excited now.

“Yes, Sir, actually Chef Henri made Spiced Double Chocolate Chip Cookies today,” Udo announced.

Boris smiled at Hank’s enthusiasm, he so enjoyed Hank’s daily joie de vivre and it gave Boris, who was by nature quite serious, what he likened to ‘a breath of fresh air’.

“Oh, gees, Boris, you have GOT to taste these cookies!” Hank took a bite and exclaimed as he rolled his eyes back. 

“I shall have one with my coffee, thank you, Udo,” Boris replied while still reading and turning a page in his book.

With a mouth full of cookie, Hank said, “Boris, you are NOT going to be able to eat only one. Udo, please tell Chef that he can make these more often!” 

Boris chuckled and nodded his thanks to Udo as he brought over Boris’ cup of coffee, a napkin, and a small plate with one cookie on it and set it on the side table next to Boris.

“Seriously, you are only going to eat just one cookie?” Hank said in surprise.

Boris nodded and wore a smug expression. He sipped his coffee and took a small bite of the cookie and said, “Hmm, quite delicious, yes.”

“Udo, do you think we could send some of these over to the Guest House for Evan? He’ll go nuts over these,” Hank asked with enthusiasm. 

“Of course, Sir, right away,” Udo smiled as he brought Hank his coffee, bowed to both of them and left them to enjoy their afternoon break.

“Have another cookie, Boris, it won’t kill you,” Hank begged.

Boris took another sip of coffee and started to say something, but Hank interrupted him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re trying to maintain your ‘girlish figure’!” Hank shook his head and gave up.

Changing the subject completely, Boris asked, “We have not yet finished our conversation on where we should go on our honeymoon.”

“Wow! That was way out from left field!” Hank said loudly and then ate another cookie.

“Well, I certainly hope that you receive the same level of enjoyment when I make love to you as you are receiving from that baked good,” Boris quipped as he looked back down to his book.

Hank stopped in mid-chew and was silent.

Boris looked up from his book at Hank, over his eyeglasses, with an even more smug expression on his face and blinked slowly.

Hank finished chewing, swallowed and said, “Ok, you win that one. Honeymoon, yeah, let’s talk about that. What are your thoughts?”

“I thought that we should travel to South Africa to experience a wildlife viewing safari. Our diamond mine and winery are also there and I think it would be timely for us to visit them as well. Would you like to see where in the mine that the stone came from which is now in our wedding rings? Also, it is actually winter in the southern hemisphere and so the weather is a good twenty to thirty degrees cooler there at times than here right now. Does this idea interest you?” Boris asked. 

Hank smiled at Boris and walked over to where Boris was sitting. Hank stood there looking down at him; their eyes locked and Boris removed his glasses, “That’s a wonderful idea, Boris; yes, I would like to do all of that. What you suggest is much better than my idea of going to Hawaii,” Hank’s tone was sincere.

Boris placed his book and glasses on the side table and stood up to embrace Hank. Boris then pulled away slightly and looked down and into Hank’s eyes with the fondness that softened his features. Boris moved one hand to cradle Hank’s face and continued to admire his husband’s handsome, happy face silently. 

Hank smiled and said quietly, “Yes, I love you, too.”

They stayed that way for a few more moments. Boris leaned in to kiss Hank and he now held Hank’s face with both hands; Boris’ kisses usually started with a tenderness that built in intensity very quickly and this kiss was no different.

Boris ended the kiss and his eyes were closed for a few moments; as Boris moved his nose to Hank’s head, he took the time to enjoy the way Hank’s hair smelled. He softened their embrace, smiled and said quietly, “I can taste those cookies on your lips.”

Hank had his eyes closed as well as he enjoyed the afterglow of the kiss; Hank smiled at Boris’ comment, his head on Boris’ shoulder.

Boris whispered, “You do remember that this room has no surveillance in it, yes? And there is a lock on the only entry door...”

 

Dinner conversation in the Main Dining Room that evening was all about their honeymoon plans. Boris had practically everything figured out and asked Hank to approve or modify his idea. It would be the two of them, Udo, and Khalil with his team of Misha, Daniel, and Efraim – three of Khalil’s most seasoned guards. 

They would travel in their private Gulfstream G650 long-range jet (flown by Captain Frank, Co-Pilot Catherine and Flight Attendant Anthony - who was actually one of Khalil’s guards. Anthony was there to protect the flight crew). Leaving New York , they would fly to Lisbon, Portugal, staying overnight there, as Boris wanted to take Hank to the W&J Graham 1890 Lodge in Porto, only a three hour drive up the Portuguese coast from Lisbon, where some of the best port wine (his personal favorite) in the world was created. From Lisbon, the next day, they would be off to Cape Town, South Africa. 

“I thought we would be going on a commercial flight, maybe even first class,” Hank said with surprise. 

Boris was bringing his wine glass back down to the table and with that comment it was now suspended in mid-air, he looked at Hank over the table with the most perfect expression of: Surely, you ARE joking, ja?

Hank froze and said, “Ok, so not a commercial flight. Got it.”

Setting the glass down on the table now, Boris continued, “You shall be more comfortable in our plane, I promise you this, Hank. The total flight time from New York to Cape Town is a bit over 16 hours either way; the overnight stop and full day in Lisbon will be pleasant, and we shall have ample food and drink as well as a private place to sleep the entire time,” Boris assured Hank, “We should arrive at our destinations quite refreshed,” Boris then took a bite of his dinner.

“This sounds really great, Boris. When do we start making the on-line reservations?” Hank asked innocently.

Boris nearly choked on the bit of rice that he was eating. “Pardon me, ahem,” he paused and took a sip of water and chuckled, “Hank, this is why we have a staff.”

“Oh,” Hank said somewhat sheepishly, “I forgot.”

Boris chuckled again, “I do not mean to make you feel badly, please forgive me, my beloved One.”

“It’s okay, really; thanks for being so patient with me,” Hank said quietly.

“If it ever came down to having absolutely nothing, what I would still have is patience for you, Hank,” Boris quietly responded as he looked fondly at Hank.

 

~~~

 

Pre-dawn, the next morning, was not a good time to be out on Shadow Pond property because an intruder had been caught by security after scaling the west wall and the entire force was out combing the grounds for accomplices. The team was fully loaded with searchlights, weapons drawn, and night vision gear. Outdoor property surveillance had been switched over to infrared to aid in the search.

Hank no longer went running at dawn as when he first moved into the main house, not only because he and Boris had developed the new late-morning exercise routine, but also because Khalil had firmly suggested to Dr. Hank (as Hank was now fondly referred to by the Shadow Pond staff) that under current circumstances it would simply be safer not to run so early in the morning.

Khalil himself had been roused from sleep by one of the night detail and was informed of the attempted invasion. It was determined that the prowler had acted alone and was now being held in a bare, heavily fortified room which served as a type of cell, until such time as the local authorities would arrive and arrest him for trespassing.

Khalil’s responsibility was to inform Boris and Hank as to what had happened, and that morning Khalil had the uncomfortable task of waking them from their sound sleep. Khalil never wanted anything to disturb them, but he knocked three times on their bedroom apartment door and that roused Boris from sleep immediately. One knock was always Udo, three knocks was always Khalil. 

Boris got out of bed swiftly; Hank was just beginning to awaken and was slow to do so. Boris grabbed his robe and put it on over his pajamas as he walked barefooted to the door which he opened quickly, “Yes, Khalil?”

“My apologies, Sir. An intruder has been captured, and is now being held in the cell,” Khalil stated.

Boris leaned against the doorway slightly with his right arm, still groggy from sleep. He ran his other hand through his hair and asked, “When, where, only one?”

Hank, wearing his sleeping pants and t-shirt, slowly walked to the door way where Boris and Khalil stood, he rubbed his eyes and asked, “What happened? Is everyone all right?”

“Yes, Doctor, no one was injured,” Khalil stated.

“Hank, security found an intruder on our property a short time ago,” said Boris as he looked at his sleepy husband in his rumpled bedclothes and messy hair.

“It was only one man, climbing the west wall at section four at 5:14 a.m.,” Khalil stated, “Everything else is secure.”

“Fine, thank you; make certain the man has water. When will the local police be here?” Boris asked absently as he rubbed his eyes.

“Whenever you want them to be here, Sir, it is 5:33 a.m. now,” Khalil said and waited for further instructions. This was standard operating procedure at Shadow Pond; the local authorities knew and understood this too: they would come when they were summoned – it was a Gentlemen’s Agreement that Boris had with Hamptons’ law enforcement. 

Boris sighed, smoothed his circle beard, and looked at the ceiling for a moment, “We shall meet with our uninvited guest after breakfast, at nine. Invite some members of the Hamptons Police Department to be here as well at that time. Thank you, Khalil.”

“Very good, Sirs,” Khalil replied, bowed his head, turned and walked back down the hallway.

Boris closed their apartment door, and held onto the door handle for a moment; he turned to look at Hank, who was very quiet and very concerned. “Come, let us lie back down; we can talk if you would like to,” Boris said as he put his arm around Hank’s shoulders and they walked back to the bed.

Boris took off his robe and laid it at over a chair before he crawled back into bed; Hank went around to his side and climbed in as well. They settled in together, Boris cradled Hank and Hank pulled up the blankets to cover them - all comforting habits to them now.

Kissing Hank’s head, Boris asked, “Are you all right, Hank?”

“Yeah, I’m fine; this intruder has got a lot of nerve. He obviously didn’t know what he was getting into,” Hank said simply.

“Oh, that is for certain. Khalil and his team are a force to be respected, ja,” Boris replied, “Are you certain you are well? I sensed something more troubling from you.”

Hank held onto Boris a little tighter and said, “I was actually having a bad dream when I heard the knocking on our door.”

“Do you recall what the dream was about?” Boris asked gently.

Hank said, “No, I don’t, but the knocking felt like someone was pounding on my head.”

“Hmmm,” Boris murmured.

Several quiet moments passed and Boris shifted slightly to further cradle Hank, he said softly, “Let us try to get a few hours more of sleep, yes?”

But Hank had already fallen back to sleep in Boris’ arms, and Boris smiled. Outwardly, Boris had controlled his energy in an attempt to envelope Hank with calmness, but inwardly, Boris’ mind was active with details and plans.

Eventually Boris drifted off to sleep, too, but it wasn’t a deep sleep.

 

Nine a.m. was not a comfortable time for the intruder of Shadow Pond. Boris stood in front of the man and studied every aspect of his person. There were four Shadow Pond guards in the room, situated close to Boris; Hank was off to Boris’ right side. Boris had his cane with him, both hands on the handle, its base on the floor. Boris’ eyes were trained on the man as he questioned him and two of the Hamptons’ Police force were there as well.

The man didn’t say much, he would not admit to anything other than ‘he was in the wrong place at the wrong time’.

Boris said, as he finished the interview, “You shall never be welcomed here, and please give this message to whoever sent you; they shall not be welcomed here either,” Boris suddenly stamped his cane, making everyone in the room jump, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

The man replied, “What would make you think that they should ever want to come here?”

It was a simple enough of a reply, but it was all that Boris needed to confirm what he had suspected. He looked down at the man, who was seated in front of him on a metal chair, and smiled with quite a smug expression, his eyes the color of tempered steel. Boris then looked at the Hamptons Police Officers and said, “He is in your custody now, Gentlemen.”

Boris turned on his heel, Hank followed in his wake as they left the ‘cell’.

Khalil’s men and the police dealt with the invader and escorted him to the squad car and drove off Shadow Pond property.

 

Hank didn’t go for a run that morning; he asked Boris if he could join him in the Pool Room for a swim. Boris was delighted at this request and welcomed Hank quite enthusiastically. Boris knew that Hank was a little shaken by the early morning event. They both swam; Boris fitting in 10 laps as was his usual habit, and then they both soaked for a while in the warm salt water pool.

Afterwards, they relaxed on the lounge chairs; Boris asked Hank what was bothering him.

“We didn’t learn anything from that guy! I thought he would buckle under your intense stare – I know that I do,” Hank admitted while he casually arranged the towel across his legs.

Boris smiled slightly and replied, “Ah, but I did learn something. It was the way he spoke, especially his last sentence to me; there was an inflection that was carefully, but not completely hidden. My cane was quite a helpful tool.”

“Really? I just thought he spoke very proper English,” Hank said with surprise.

Boris said, “When I stamped my cane, the sudden sound hitting the floor made him lose his nerve. I recognized his slight inflection that is from the same area of Bonn, Germany where the Kuesters have settled. I believe he may have been hired by them to spy on us.”

“You…are really amazing,” Hank said somewhat in awe.

“Unfortunately, Hank, a lifetime of family intrigue has taught me many things,” Boris said sadly.

They were quiet for a few moments and just relaxed on the lounge chairs. Boris finished his double espresso, placed the cup on the saucer, then both back on the side table, and looked over at Hank with a serious expression, “This situation brings something to my mind which I should like to suggest to you.”

Hank looked at Boris and said, “You can always say anything you want to me, Boris, you know that.”

“You went swimming with me today and I have enjoyed this time very much,” Boris said sincerely, “However, I do not want you to stop running because of what happened today. I know that you enjoy running and want you to continue to do what you want to do here. Do not feel that you have to hide within the walls of our home. We shall continue to live our lives the way we want to; but for the time being, we shall just take extra caution. May I ask something of you, Hank?”

“Of course, anything,” Hank said, as he turned on the lounge chair, put his bare feet on the marble floor and faced Boris directly. Hank was amazed that Boris said what he actually felt. The intruder had shaken Hank’s sense of safety; he had to admit that to himself now. If Boris could read it from him, it was true. Hank thought to himself, ‘how does Boris know me so well?’

“For the time being, Hank…would you consider taking one of the guards with you when you run? I am certain that one of the security staff is a runner and would be able to keep up with you and help to keep you safe. You can instruct him to run with you or behind you, whichever you feel the most comfortable with,” Boris said this gently as he didn’t want Hank to feel pressured or uncomfortable. Boris also tried to keep the desperation that he suddenly felt for Hank’s safety from his voice and barely managed to make it sound more like he was asking; but inside, Boris was imploring Hank to agree. This intruder situation had shaken Boris as well, though he loathed to admit it.

Boris continued, “I would greatly appreciate it if you would take this into consideration. We shall not spend our lives locked up in our own home and not be able to do what we want to do,” Boris paused and then added, “This IS only temporary, please know this. If you do not do this for yourself…at least…do it for…my sake?”

Hank could see that Boris needed some sort of comfort at the moment and he smiled at him. Hank reached over and held Boris’ upper arm and said, “Okay, I will do this for our sake.”

Boris felt relieved and smiled back at Hank; he looked at Hank and thought to himself, ‘this man manages to endear himself to me in so many ways…’

 

~~~

 

The honeymoon plans were almost finished; they were set to leave on Sunday. The many details for a trip of this nature took a great deal of time and finesse, especially because Boris had very specific requirements and needs, and now that Hank was with him, Boris wanted extra special touches to be in place. Udo and the two staff assistants worked diligently to align everything properly.

 

~~~

 

Hamptons Heritage held a benefit on that Friday. The hospital was also celebrating a ten year anniversary and everyone who was anyone in the Hamptons was invited. Those who had paid considerable attention (and donations) to the hospital were treated with extra special care and were considered guests of honor. Boris and Hank fell into that category of guests.

It was an afternoon gathering and because it was still a very hot August, the benefit had to be held inside the air-conditioned building and it took up the largest of open spaces that the hospital had. The organizers really wanted to have an outdoor event, but made due and decorated the areas with flowers and linens on tables. The gathering was friendly and delightful, there was music performed by a local quartet of musicians known by many, and the best caterer in the Hamptons was hired to provide food and libations. The doctors and nurses of Hamptons Heritage attended the event as their schedules allowed.

Hospital security was at its usual standard…

Boris initially did not want to attend, he felt that they didn’t need to be ‘honored’, but Hank talked him into going and conceded to Boris that they would bring two guards with them. Hank really did want to spend time with the people he knew and cared about at Hamptons Heritage – which was practically everyone there - and it pleased Boris to watch Hank enjoy himself in the process.

By now, everyone in the Hamptons knew about Boris and Hank and a few brave souls actually came up and offered sincere congratulations to them of which they graciously accepted.

 

 

The event was winding down and Boris asked Hank if they could now return to Shadow Pond. Boris was always one to arrive on time to an invitation, but always left before the end of an event; today, he felt that they had stayed too long... 

Hank asked Boris for just a few more minutes…

 

Someone had infiltrated the event and spent the time watching Boris and Hank. This man was seen at the event, but was extremely careful to not be noticed. 

Suddenly, one of Khalil’s men, Jon Michel, did notice an odd movement made by the man and Jon Michel rushed forward to place himself between the man and both Boris and Hank, who were of course standing next to each other. Their other guard, Yussef, was in motion at the same moment towards them as well.

The man had been aiming for Hank. 

He pushed past Jon Michel, grazing Jon Michel on his arm with the knife. Yussef was able to grab the man’s other arm in an attempt to swing him around and away from Boris and Hank. Jon Michel fell back against Boris, as Boris reached out with his arm and cane to try and protect Hank from the man. The assailant didn’t realize this until it was too late and his lunge forward towards Hank became miscalculated, but not before the knife pierced and sunk into Hank’s abdomen, just above his appendix.

Yussef and Jon Michel piled on top of the assailant, effectively pinning him to the floor. The bloodied knife was knocked from the man’s hand and lay there in the middle of the floor with Hank’s blood dripping from it.

Hank stood there for a moment with a look of complete surprise on his face and moved his hand to the wound as his blood went streaming down his clothing. As a doctor, his first instinct was to put pressure on the wound, but in those few moments he suddenly felt weak and started to collapse to the floor.

Boris moved with lightening speed to catch Hank and eased him slowly to the ground, holding him tightly.

There was screaming and the crowd backed away from the melee; several doctors and nurses came forward immediately to help Boris hold and lay Hank onto the floor.

“STAY WITH ME, HANK!!” Boris cried. Boris held Hank’s head with his hands, the cane on the floor next to them.

The doctors were caring for Hank’s wound as two nurses ran off to get supplies. They really needed to stop the bleeding and it now flowed onto the floor. As quickly as they had left, the nurses were back with a blanket and armloads of supplies, and they all worked together to care for Hank.

Hank looked up at Boris, his face growing pale, “I’ll…be okay, Boris…don’t worry…”

It became an impromptu surgery session on the floor of the cafeteria. Hank was weakening, but still alert, and he told them that they needed to make sure his intestine wasn’t lacerated; one of his doctor friends told Hank to shut up and be a good patient for once in his life.

Boris felt that Hank was getting the best care at the moment; he looked across and over them towards where Yussef and Jon Michel were manhandling the assailant into handcuffs. Boris looked once at Hank’s face, touched him gently on the cheek, and in a visceral reaction grabbed the cane, separated the dagger from the cane, stood up and ran over to the assailant, the cane in one hand, and the dagger in the other. Their guards, seeing Boris’ aggressive movement towards them, moved slightly aside as Boris forcefully pinned the man back down onto the floor on his own. 

In a series of controlled movements, Boris had his knee dug into the man’s chest and the dagger at his throat poised to thrust it upward at any given moment. Yussef and Jon Michel held the man’s legs firmly to the floor. Boris continued to press his knee downward as he said, through clenched teeth and with more ferocity in his eyes than anyone had ever seen (in a very long time), “Who sent you?!”

The man shook his head violently. Boris shouted this time, “WHO SENT YOU?! AND WHY?!”

Again, the man refused to speak, but became fearful under Boris’ pointed gaze.

Boris said, with a force that most people would have buckled under (and everyone in the room heard it as well), “You either tell me now what I want to know and then live out your life safely in prison – where I shall not be able to get to you – or I will skewer your brains this very moment with my blade!”

The tip of the dagger pressed into and began to puncture the man’s skin, and his blood began to ooze.

“Ahhh, stop, I beg you!!” the man cried.

Suddenly, a voice spoke, soft now and pleading, a voice Boris knew as well as his own, “Boris, please…don’t kill him…”

It was Hank. From where he lay on the floor, with the doctors and nurses all around and caring for him, Hank could see Boris in this balancing act of protection and rage. 

Boris turned his head to look at Hank; Hank smiled slightly at Boris, it was all he could manage at the moment, and then his expression became pained and he grimaced. Hank let out a groan.

Boris turned his head back to look down at the assailant and took a deep breath, fighting back the urge to take the man’s life. Boris pushed his knee harder into the man’s chest again and a crack of a bone was heard.

The man forced himself to think through his fear and the growing pain, (his ‘employer’ had warned him about Boris and how dangerous he could be) and he croaked, “Ahhh! Promise me I will be safe in prison!”

“I shall make no such promise to you, vermin,” Boris coldly replied as he applied more pressure with his knee.

The man decided to confess, his chest hurt badly now as did his throat; he started to think that he would be safe if he is sent to prison and then hoped he would be eventually released…

“Andres…ahhh…Andres Lehmann…it was to prevent you from doing what you are doing…oh, please stop!!!” the man begged.

As quickly as Boris had pounced on the man, he moved back and allowed Yussef and Jon Michel to move forward so that they could drag the man toward the now six waiting Hamptons Police Officers. One of the officers was holding onto a sealing bag which had in it the assailant’s knife covered in Hank’s blood. Boris saw Jon Michel’s injury and directed one of the nurses to care for him immediately, which she did.

Boris forcefully returned the dagger back into the cane and rushed back to Hank’s side. Boris knelt down beside Hank’s head, laid the cane nearby and gently touched Hank’s face with his hands. Hank was now unconscious from the loss of blood, but the doctors were finishing their stitching the wound closed and they told Boris that he will be fine. 

Boris grabbed the arm of the nearest doctor, looked at him with an expression of near panic and said, “I am compatible with his blood type – take as much blood as you need for him - from me - right now; Hank must be saved at all cost.”

Boris did not see that they had already hooked Hank up to receive a transfusion even though it was right in front of him. The doctor placed a firm hand on Boris’ hand at his arm and said calmly, “Hank’s going to be okay, look, he’s already receiving blood. Don’t worry, sir. Hank is strong and very healthy, he will heal quickly.”

Boris then looked to where the doctor pointed to the IV and then to the bandages they were placing over the stitched up injury on his bared abdomen. Boris attempted to control his breathing, and tried to calm himself. He looked at the doctor again and nodded his head once and then released the doctor’s arm.

Just then, an orderly team with a stretcher rolled into the cafeteria. Boris saw that they had moved Hank onto a blanket from off of the cold floor before they performed the surgery. Now they were all moving, standing, and lifting Hank onto the stretcher using the blanket. Boris stood as well and picked up the cane. Boris kept one hand on Hank the entire time. They settled Hank onto the stretcher and the same doctor whose arm Boris had gripped a moment before, said to Boris, “We’re taking him to a private room now, come with us,” the doctor knew he didn’t need to say that as Boris would have followed them anyway, but the doctor thought it would be a comfort for Boris to hear this.

As they traveled down the hallway, Boris continued to keep a hand on Hank as he said to the doctor, “He is very cold.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of that when we get him settled,” replied the doctor calmly.

They rolled the stretcher with Hank on it into the room as Boris followed closely. Yussuf, who had also followed them, then stood outside the doorway and Jon Michel, now properly bandaged up, caught up to the group, and went to stand on the other side of the doorway as well.

Boris didn’t want to leave Hank’s side as they tried to prepare him for the transfer to the hospital bed. A tall, silver-haired nurse came up to Boris and politely said, “Excuse me, sir, I know that you want to be close by, but please step back a bit so that we can care for Hank and get him comfortable.” 

Boris tore his eyes away from Hank at the sound of her composed, supportive voice, and looked at her trying to focus on her eyes, he blinked; he then looked at her nametag, it read ‘Joanne’; he looked again into her eyes and took a few steps backward.

He watched them swing Hank over from the stretcher to the bed, without the blanket this time and began to remove his bloody clothing. Boris felt an incredible wave of sadness and helplessness hit him as he watched Hank’s unconscious and limp body be manipulated; Boris stumbled two steps backward in order to lean against the wall.

The doctors and nurses were highly efficient as they finished their work and resettled all of the wires and tubes that were attached to Hank now. They cleansed his body of blood, dressed him in a hospital gown, affixed an oxygen tube at his nose, and arranged several blankets on top of him. The medical equipment continued to beep quietly, and steadily. 

Boris looked from Hank’s face to the blood dripping from the IV bag and down inside the tube leading into Hank’s arm. Boris heard them talk about pain medication and fluids, but experienced a type of numbness in his mind that had begun to envelope his senses and made everything sound muffled to him.

Boris leaned against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest as he tried to remind himself to breathe. As the doctors and nurses prepared to leave the room, they looked over at Boris and then at each other and nodded their heads. Nurse Joanne whispered, “Let’s leave him alone for now.”

 

Within the next few hours that passed, Khalil and another one of his men arrived to further stand watch in the hallway. Jon Michel refused to be relieved of duty just yet because of his injury and stayed. Udo also arrived with them (he had stayed back at Shadow Pond during the benefit in order to attend to some tasks for Boris) and when Udo and Khalil looked into the room they saw Hank on the bed unconscious, and Boris leaning against the wall apparently in a daze looking at Hank; they decided not to enter and disturb either of them.

Udo had notified Evan, Divya, and Jeremiah of what had happened and they were now on their way to the hospital. All three of them had been otherwise engaged that afternoon and were at various places across town.

Boris started to pace the room, he had loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button on his shirt and nervously ran his hand through his hair, his mind still blank and in shock. Udo escorted Evan, then Divya, then Jeremiah into the room as they each arrived. Boris noticed each one and simply nodded once to each of them. He had no words to say. Boris stepped over to the window ledge and leaned his backside against it, his arms once again crossed in front of his chest tightly as if to prevent himself from unraveling.

Divya and Jeremiah both examined the way that Hank was set up and spoke softly in agreement that everything was in order. Evan expressed relief at this and then stood by Hank’s side and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Hey Bro, pull through, okay? We all need you.” 

Evan then whispered to Divya and Jeremiah, as he nodded his head in the direction of Boris, “Boris looks like a wreck, what can we do to help him?”

Divya suggested, “We can ask him quietly and if he says nothing, don’t push it further. Give him space, Evan.”

Jeremiah said, “I think we should just leave him alone.”

They all agreed that Jeremiah’s idea was the best for now, as Udo entered the room again and asked them if he could be of service. They declined and asked how they could help Udo. Everyone turned and looked down at Hank and then over at Boris. 

Evan said, “I’m gonna stay here a little while, I’ll see both of you tomorrow, okay?”

Divya touched Evan’s arm and gave him a small smile; Jeremiah nodded and the three of them left the room. 

Evan stared down at Hank with a tight expression. He’d never seen his brother like this.

Boris then said, in a very course voice, “Evan,” Boris cleared his throat and continued, “May I have a few moments of your time?”

“Sure, Boris…” Evan hesitated and continued to look Hank.

“He looks so pale,” Boris said quietly, as he too continued to look at Hank.

“Why would anyone want to do this to him? I mean, Hank has never hurt anyone, he has so much compassion for people and he is always trying to help them to get well…you’d think he was a Buddhist or something besides being a doctor,” Evan said with some desperation.

Boris looked at Evan with an odd expression as if something haunted him; Boris’ gaze became distant as he then stared at a point on the wall across the room. There were many moments of silence which passed and when Evan looked at Boris again, it was as if Boris wasn’t even in the room.

“Boris? Do you know who hurt Hank?” Evan asked.

Boris shook himself slightly as if he had caught a chill, came back to the conversation and said, “Yes, and they did not come here to hurt Hank…they came here to kill Hank.”

“Uh, but why? Wait, Boris, you told me once that I wouldn’t have to worry about Hank being with you. What’s going on?” Evan began to get upset.

“Evan, what I said back then was that ‘you shall not have to fear for him…with me’. I would never harm Hank, but there are others who would,” Boris paused to let that sink in, and then continued, “I have individuals who are working on this as we speak, so my information is not complete as yet. What I suspect is that there are persons who hired the assailant because they do not want to be discovered. That man was a throw-away. I made the man talk and he gave me a name which instantly told me that my instincts were correct. The man also said that he was sent to prevent me from doing what I am doing.”

Evan walked around the bed to stand closer to Boris by the window, “Go on, Boris,” Evan said flatly.

Boris looked directly at Evan and Evan looked directly at Boris – and the gaze held fast, a first for them.

“Evan, I come from a world where there are specific rules which must be maintained. These are age-old rules handed down through generations of, eh, people of my kind and station. Deviation from these rules can cause uproar on many levels and I have…deviated,” Boris stated, “from the normal process. Because I decided to accept Hank as my partner, and now my husband, and that he has accepted me in return, a certain group of these people have decided to try and change things back to the way they were.”

“Who are these people, Boris?” Evan asked, very curious now.

Boris hesitated for a moment, “These people, Evan, are one faction of my family. I was supposed to be in an arranged marriage at one time long ago to satisfy these rules, and I resisted. I have since fought this process for, hmmm, a few decades now. Arranged marriages are designed to insure political, regional, and economic stability, as well as to make certain that bloodlines continue and are possibly enhanced going into the future,” Boris stopped to allow Evan time to think about this information.

Evan’s eyes became large as he now understood what was going on. He asked, “So, with you marrying Hank, all of the plans that the family had, especially for you, are gone and they thought that if they eliminated Hank, everything would go back to whatever normal they believe in, especially the bloodline thing. But, your bloodline stops with you now. Getting rid of Hank gives them the opportunity to take advantage of you in your grief, probably force you into something you didn’t want to do and then they would get their way. They win, you lose.”

“Precisely,” Boris said wearily, “You Americans are fortunate in that you mostly marry for love,” Boris stated, “That, in my world, is sadly secondary, never mind the types of relationships which produce no offspring.”

“We also marry for money, don’t forget about that, Boris,” Evan said, paused, thinking, then continued, “So…your family probably also thinks that Hank married you for your money and they want your money.”

“Oh, that is indeed a factor here,” Boris admitted.

There were a few moments of quiet between them as they both looked at Hank lying on the hospital bed.

“Hank and I have been aware of threats made against us; you may have noticed extra security around Shadow Pond of late. I should have seen it more clearly that the family’s designs were more fatal in nature and should have taken greater precautions…” Boris trailed off, he was so tired and he could feel the tug of melancholy once again. He absently clenched his left fist, looked at it, and then rubbed the ends of his fingers with his thumb in a somewhat nervous mannerism.

“You’re both safe now, right?” Evan asked as he was trying to find a positive bend to this situation.

“For now; the next few days will be the most telling and I shall inform you when we learn more,” Boris said.

Boris looked at Evan and wanted to ask him something very important, but struggled with himself to do so. It pertained to the Lawson family and not his own. Evan saw the struggle on Boris’ face.

Evan said, “What, Boris? Were you going to say something?”

Boris looked at the floor in an unusual display of weakness in front of Evan. Boris was at his wits’ end; he sighed and asked Evan, “Would you please not tell your father about this incident, not just yet? I know this is a troublesome request, but I must ask – not for my sake as I matter for less than nothing – but this is for Hank’s sake. Their last meeting did not go well and it upset Hank a great deal. Could we please…wait…for a while, and when Hank is somewhat better, he can decide what he would prefer to do?”

Evan looked at Boris, at first very critical and then that expression softened to understanding, he replied, “Yeah, sure, Boris, for Hank’s sake. That would be best, you’re right. Hey, uh, I’m gonna go home now; I just can’t… I’ve gotta think about all of this; gosh, I hate seeing Hank like this…”

“Ja, me too. Thank you for speaking with me, Evan; either I or Udo will contact you as we learn more and when Hank has awakened. You will be able to come here tomorrow, yes?” Boris asked with anticipation.

“Sure thing, Boris, you’re welcome, and um, thanks also for telling me about all of…this,” Evan waved his hands in front of him, tried to smile, turned, walked over to Hank and touched his brother’s shoulder again before walking out the door.

Boris was alone with Hank now and he took off his jacket, folded it and laid it across a chair. He went over to Hank and sat down on a chair which he pulled next to the bed and faced the bed. Boris took Hank’s hand and forearm in both of his hands and then put his forehead down on Hank’s arm, with his elbows outward in either direction. 

Every hour after that, a nurse came to check on Hank and saw Boris there, he was not asleep, but he did not acknowledge the nurse. The nurse did not disturb Boris.

 

~~~

 

At two a.m., Roger, the night nurse came in and saw that Boris now stood and leaned against the wall close to Hank’s bed. Roger nodded to Boris, and he nodded once back at Roger. Boris had removed his tie, unbuttoned another button on his shirt, and rolled up his sleeves. Roger checked everything that was attached to Hank, oxygen, an IV of fluids – the transfusion had been completed several hours before and had been removed - and finally checked all of the readings on the medical equipment. Before Nurse Roger stepped away from Hank’s bed, he said quietly to Boris, “Hank’s vitals are steady and strong; I’ve given him a little more pain medication to keep his body calm. I don’t want him to jerk from a pain spasm and tear the stitches.”

Boris nodded again, as he stared at the floor, but said nothing.

“Is there anything that I can get for you, sir?” Roger asked politely. Roger looked to see that a late dinner which had been brought in for Boris had not been touched.

Boris shook his head and that was all of the movement he could manage. 

Nurse Roger picked up the untouched tray and left the room with it.

 

At six a.m. Udo came into the room to see Boris standing by the window as he looked out at the brightening sky of dawn. Boris’ arms were crossed at his chest and he did not turn to acknowledge Udo. Walking up to Boris from his left side, Udo quietly said, “Sir, may I get you anything?”

Boris shook his head and continued to look out the window.

Udo had brought a carafe of water and a glass with him; he poured water into the glass and held it in front of Boris, Udo softly said, “Sir, please drink this water I have brought for you. It is the only thing I know how to do to try and help.”

Boris turned slowly to look at Udo. His eyes were dark grey and his face was lined and very weary. They lock gazes with each other. Boris then looked at the glass of water, which he reached to take from Udo.

Drinking the entire glass of water in several swallows, Boris handed the glass back to Udo, who placed it and the carafe of water on a small table nearby. Udo and Boris looked at each other for a moment before Udo turned away and went over to Hank, looked down at him with an expression of sadness and then left the room.

Udo was going to tell Boris that he and Khalil had taken care of locking down Shadow Pond and several other tasks, and that there were four next-shift guards in the hallway outside of Hank’s room, but Udo thought that Boris knew that they would have done that without his direction, so Udo thought it best to not say anything.

 

At nine a.m., there was a shift change and now Nurse Joanne had returned to take over for Roger. She quietly walked into Hank’s room and saw Boris as he leaned against the wall (again) near Hank’s bed. “Good morning, sir; I’ve just come to check on Hank. I read his chart this morning and his numbers look very good,” she said with a positive tone in her voice. She didn’t wait for, nor had expected, a response from Boris as the chart included additional notes from Nurse Roger about Boris and that he had not spoken, slept, nor eaten in well over 12 hours. 

Nurse Joanne then set about to check Hank’s vitals, she changed the IV bag, adjusted the pain medication to a lesser dosage, removed the oxygen tube, shifted Hank slightly on the pillows, and then re-adjusted the blankets. She lifted up the blanket on Hank’s injured side and moved aside his gown to take a look at the dressing. She touched the bandage to check for any excessive heat and swelling radiating out from the wound, of which there was none. 

She looked aside to see Boris as he watched her. All she could see was a very tired, dedicated, and disheveled man with only a shadow of some type of expression on his lined face. Joanne smiled slightly and looked back down as she carefully replaced the gown and the blanket on Hank, satisfied that she has taken care of everything for the moment. 

Nurse Joanne then walked over to Boris, his eyes still followed her and she said calmly, matching his gaze with a serenity than he did not feel, “Hank is doing really well, sir, I think that he will be waking up in a short while,” she paused and smiled sweetly, “I don’t know if this is helpful, but I believe that when someone like you stays with someone like him during the critical recovery period, well, I think Hank knows on some level that you are here and I’ll bet that he working his way back here, to you.”

Boris blinked but said nothing; Joanne blinked back and then noticed the carafe of water and the glass on the table; she picked up the carafe and poured water into the glass. As she set down the carafe next to the filled glass, she met Boris’ eyes again, but said nothing. Nurse Joanne then turned slowly and left the room.

Boris picked up the glass of water and drank it empty.

 

A short while later, while Boris stared out of the window, he heard a barely audible sound; he turned quickly and rushed to Hank’s bedside. Hank was waking up; he moaned now, coughed and grimaced. Hank’s eyes opened very slowly, almost shutting again and opening once more. The first thing that Hank saw was Boris standing next to the bed looking down at him with an expression of relief that was immense, but it didn’t erase the hours of worry from his face, a day’s growth of silver hair on his cheeks, and an unkempt mane of hair.

Boris turned quickly and poured a glass of water of which some of the water didn’t make it into the glass and spilled onto the table. Boris’ hands were shaking. Boris turned back to Hank and silently offered the glass of water to him. Boris had to help Hank drink a few sips as Hank could not quite hold the glass yet on his own; Boris also held Hank’s head up. (Hank felt the tremor in Boris’ hands.) Boris was relieved that Hank didn’t feel as cold as he had when they first wheeled him down the hallway on the stretcher. 

Boris guided Hank’s head back to the pillow; Hank closed his eyes for a moment while Boris set the glass back down on the wet table. When Boris turned back to face Hank, he found Hank looking at him – Hank’s eyes were dark blue and he was trying to take Boris’ face into his mind; then Hank said softly, the water slowly reviving him, “You look worse than I think I feel.”

Boris tried to say something, but had to clear his throat first, then stated, “I am not on pain medication as you are and you have not shared any of it with me; of course, I look this way.”

Boris leaned over to kiss Hank’s forehead, both men closed their eyes, Boris’ lips lingered on Hank’s forehead for a moment, breathing, and then quietly said, “I love you, Hank.”

“I love you back, Boris,” Hank said equally as quiet. This statement and response had also become a familiar and comforting routine for them.

Boris straightened up, looked down at Hank, took a deep breath, and offered, “They have been telling me that your ‘numbers are very good’ and that they expect you shall make a full recovery.”

Always caring for others before asking anything for himself, Hank asked Boris, “Have you eaten?”

“No,” Boris replied.

“Have you had anything to drink?” Hank asked.

“Merely water, but that is only because Udo and Nurse Joanne made me drink it,” Boris replied with a petulant tone.

The two men looked at each other. Hank tilted his head as if to scold Boris; Boris nodded his head to acknowledge that he was in trouble with Hank.

“What time is it,” asked Hank.

“It is nearly noon, the next day,” Boris replied.

As it was time to again make her rounds, Nurse Joanne returned to the room and was very pleased to see Hank awake. She exclaimed, “Well, hello there sleeping beauty!” 

“Hi Joanne, it’s nice to see you again, too; so you got the short straw to take care of me, huh?” Hank asked cheerfully.

“I’m a lucky woman,” Joanne replied with enthusiasm, and then asked, “How do you feel, Hank?” as she began to check his vitals.

“All things considered, I could be worse, but I’ve got the best people surrounding me,” Hank said as he looked up at Boris.

Boris said flatly, “You say that to everyone who smiles at you, Hank.”

“See, Joanne, this is what happens when he doesn’t eat, he gets hangry,” Hank stated.

“H-hangry?” Boris was confused.

“Yeah, Boris, it’s when a person gets so hungry that they are angry about it at the same time: hangry,” Hank stated. 

Joanne chuckled at the comment.

Boris just blinked as he tried to process this American slang word that he had not heard before.

“Well, your lunches will be delivered any moment now,” Joanne said as she finished.

Hank looked at Boris with an expression Boris knew very well. Joanne enjoyed watching their interaction.

“Yes, Hank, I shall eat my lunch when it arrives,” Boris said in a deflated tone, he looked at Hank, then at Joanne, and politely said, “Please excuse me for a moment,” as he slowly walked to the bath room and closed the door.

Hank saw the slowness in Boris’ gait.

Joanne re-adjusted Hank’s pillow, again, so that she was close to him and quietly said, “Hank, do you realize just how devoted he is to you? He never left this room; he didn’t eat anything, he didn’t sleep, he probably didn’t say but three words, and kept watch over you for the last 18 hours.”

“Yes, and I can guess he did all of that; I don’t deserve him actually,” Hank said with a sad tone to his voice.

“Don’t say that Hank, you are equally valuable…to each other…I can tell. Your auras blend well. By the way, I like your ring; I noticed that he has the same one, too,” Joanne said.

“Yes,” Hank looked at the ring on his finger, smiled and said proudly, “We’re married.”

Joanne smiled, “That’s the most wonderful thing I have heard all week!”

At that moment, Boris came out of the bath room, but he looked at the floor as if he needed to step carefully as he walked. He went over to Hank’s bedside and said, now looking at Nurse Joanne, “Thank you, Joanne, for all of your help.”

“You’re both welcome, now eat your lunches when they arrive,” Joanne teased, “I have such a good feeling about you two,” as she smiled at both of them and then left the room.

 

Later on that day, after lunch, Hank received visitors: Evan, Divya, and Jeremiah all came at the same time and were escorted in by Udo. (Seeing that both Boris and Hank had eaten their lunches, Udo was almost giddy.) There was much lively talk between the brothers, Divya and Jeremiah; they were so happy to see Hank awake. 

Boris sat down on a chair across the room and watched them converse; he made a few brief comments, but mostly kept to himself as he felt that they needed this time together. He was very tired and although the food he had eaten had helped somewhat, he knew that if he didn’t get some real sleep, he would collapse. Boris kept telling himself, ‘Not now’!

After about three-quarters an hour, Hank told them that he was tired and wanted to get some rest. They all promised to return the next day and said their goodbyes, even to Boris who was somewhat listless, but nonetheless, slowly stood up, smiled slightly and graciously saw them to the door.

Boris turned back to Hank, smiled slightly again and asked Hank if he could rest his eyes for a short while.

Hank said, “Of course, Boris, I’m tired, too. Nap time for us. You know, I think that lounge chair over there opens up fully so you can stretch out your legs.”

“Ah, yes, that would be nice. Let me arrange your blankets first,” Boris said quietly as he fussed with Hank’s blankets.

“Okay, Boris, I’m fine, please go lay down and get some sleep,” Hank practically begged.

“If you need anything, just call out,” Boris was standing near Hank’s bedside, and they held hands for a moment.

Boris walked over to the lounge chair, he looked at it with a tilt of his head, and found the lever which made the mechanism expand and it opened fully. He began to get into the chair and slipped somewhat, as he just barely caught himself from falling onto the floor. 

Hank almost jumped out of bed in response to go to Boris, and then remembered why the sharp pain in his side told him to stay put. Hank was glad that he didn’t cry out or that really would have upset the situation.

Boris slid into the extended lounger and was asleep before his head rested on the cushion.

Hank dialed the nurses’ station and asked for Joanne. She was there in a moment and Hank asked her to put a blanket over Boris and find a pillow for his head. “I would do it myself, but I don’t think I can get out of bed right now,” Hank admitted.

Nurse Joanne saw to it that they were both comfortable; she turned off the lights, drew the shades and quietly withdrew from the room.

 

Four hours later, Boris was still asleep. Hank, in the meanwhile, had awakened after two hours, was assisted to and from the bath room by Nurse Franklin, was brought a light snack, was visited by all of the people involved with his surgery as well as Udo – three times; he had his vitals checked by Nurse Joanne and spent the remaining time watching Boris sleep. At one point, Hank asked Joanne to see if Boris was still breathing as Boris had only shifted his position once.

 

It was now dinner time and Hank’s appetite was ready, he asked for a cheeseburger and french fries. “You must be feeling better!” said Nurse Julie in her thick New Orleans accent as she delivered his dinner, “Would you like me tuh bring your friend there somethin’ tuh eat?”

Hank smiled and replied, “Yeah, (my friend, he mused) but we should wait until he wakes up. He’s kind of a picky eater.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be baaack,” Julie said in her drawl and left.

Udo whispered to Hank during a visit, “Should we be concerned about him, Sir?”

“No, not yet, Udo. But when he wakes up and if he doesn’t want to eat, then we can start to worry, okay?” Hank replied.

 

A couple more hours passed, Hank had long since finished his dinner, the tray was removed, he had dozed off and on again and was just going to call for a nurse to help him to the bath room, when Boris started forcefully awake and threw the blanket onto the floor. Hank watched but said nothing; he knew Boris would need to acclimate himself to where he was because when Boris awoke like that he was quite fierce. Hank learned early on to be as far away from those long arms as possible. ‘Come out swinging’ would be an accurate description and one did not want to be nearby.

Boris sat up quickly and looked around with a wild look in his eyes, blinking fast. He then saw Hank and breathed deeply, his expression and his body language softened considerably. Boris got up, a little too quickly, and had to hold onto the lounger’s arm for a moment to orientate himself into the upright position. He took another deep breath, walked over to Hank and asked, “How do you feel?”

“I feel pretty good, sleepy head; would you like to know how long you slept?” Hank asked cheerfully.

“Your tone of voice tells me that it was a long time, I suppose it was necessary, ja?” Boris said rubbing his eyes.

Hank looked up, smiled at Boris and said, “Lean over to me.” Boris leaned in and Hank reached up and used his fingers to comb Boris’ hair into something that looked like less than an explosion had gone off on the top of his head, “Oh, I love doing that!”

“Vielen Dank,” Boris said straightening up, he asked, “Is there anything that I may do for you?”

Teasingly serious, Hank said with more charm than was necessary, “You can be Nurse Boris and help me to the bath room…”

“I can do that,” Boris said innocently.

 

Afterwards, Boris had settled Hank back into the bed, and he stated, “Do not be alarmed, but I feel the need to eat.”

Hank made a big show out of calling for the nurse and started laughing, which hurt a great deal. Boris became worried somewhat as he watched the pained expression come across Hank’s face while he was laughing, but then also began to chuckle as Hank announced into the handset, “Alert, the man needs food, come quickly before he changes his mind!”

 

~~~

 

The hospital kept Hank for three more days, just to be safe. Hank made good progress in his healing and his positive attitude helped Boris a great deal, too. Boris learned to sleep a little better on the extended lounger chair and Hank only took the pain medication when he truly needed it.

They were visited regularly by nearly everyone and they soon both became anxious to get back home to Shadow Pond. Hank admitted to Boris that he really wanted to be back resting in their comfortable bed together, and Boris agreed completely. They enjoyed the privacy of their apartment, it was their sanctuary.

 

~~~

 

Hank was able to walk around a little bit in his room as the days went by, but it was taxing. Hank knew that he would need a wheelchair to get around their enormous house.

Hank really couldn’t stand up for any length of time either; a good example of this was that Hank could not stand at the sink long enough to shave without feeling waves of pain, so he just let his beard grow. Two days of not shaving and Hank looked very scruffy; his brown hair very noticeable on his cheeks.

Boris teased that Hank was starting to look like those ‘unkempt, shirtless fashion models one sees in men’s magazines who are trying to sell sunglasses and fragrances’. 

Hank asked Boris, “Since when do you read men’s magazines? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a magazine in your hand!”

Boris replied in an annoyed tone, “It is apparently the only reading material available in hospitals these days. They keep offering me magazines to read; however, I have learned that I have not yet made it to the cover of GQ as you thought I might.”

Hank mentioned his scruffiness so often while rubbing his face, that Boris then sincerely and innocently offered, “Perhaps you will allow me to shave you; I am quite adept at a gentleman’s shave technique, Hank.”

With that simple sentence, both men felt a stirring inside. They looked at each other and held their breaths.

“Uh, thanks Boris, but I’m afraid that’s…a little too erotic for me right now; I just know what that would lead to and I don’t think I’m strong enough yet,” Hank admitted.

“Ja, I did not expect that either. I apologize,” Boris placed his hand on his heart, then continued, “Allow me to rephrase what I said…perhaps when we get home and you are stronger, you would consider my shaving assistance…” Boris spoke tentatively and trailed off, and because his voice had an inherent deep silkiness to it anyway, what he said wasn’t making things any less ‘erotic’ for them. Boris pointed a finger across the room and then said, “Perhaps I should go stand by the window now and keep my mouth shut…”

 

~~~

 

Udo had done a fantastic job of taking care of them at the hospital. He brought them both their travel grooming kits, daily fresh clothing for Boris and a fresh ‘going home’ outfit for Hank. Udo also worked with the nursing staff to make certain that they both ate properly and on time and that there was endless filtered water for them to drink. Nearly every small need that Udo could think of, he took care of: a reading book (and a pair of glasses) for Boris and the laptop for Hank; even a vase of fresh fragrant flowers. Udo deplored the way the hospital smelled and did what he could to change Hank’s room into a more pleasurable place. Udo was eager to get the ‘Masters’ back home. The Shadow Pond staff was also eager to receive them back and with Udo’s and Evan’s assistance, they arranged a welcome home party for Hank. Evan had a banner made up that was hung on the outside of the main house above the entrance door which read: Welcome Home Hank!

 

~~~

 

On the last evening at the hospital, just before they were going to turn in for the night, Boris sat on the side of Hank’s bed and held his hand, looked at it and gently touched Hank’s wedding ring with his finger. He said quietly, “I asked one of your doctors when you would be fit to travel again and he told me that you should not go anywhere for at least an entire month. With this news, it appears we shall have to postpone our honeymoon for a long while,” Boris looked up and into Hank’s eyes.

“Yeah, I asked the same question, and got the same answer. It is what it is, right?” Hank said with resignation.

 

~~~

 

Hank was now going home to recover; the hospital staff said their goodbyes and instructed that the next time they wanted to see Hank was that he would not be a patient. Hank asked almost everyone, “Was I that bad of a patient?”

Nurse Joanne had been most involved with Hank’s care and had developed quite a rapport with both men. She was misty-eyed with her goodbye. Boris suggested that she come visit them at Shadow Pond during the next week to have lunch and to also take a tour of Hank’s infirmary. She greatly appreciated the offer and would do so eagerly. 

Boris wheeled Hank in a wheelchair down the hallway, they were flanked by four guards and everyone in the hallway stepped aside for them. When they were out of Joanne’s earshot, Boris leaned over to speak quietly into Hanks’ ear, “There is something very unique about Nurse Joanne; you might want to consider hiring her part-time to assist you in the infirmary, Hank. We do not have limits to our payroll at Shadow Pond. If there is a need, we always hire the best.”

“That’s a great idea, Boris; yeah, she’s one of the best nurses I’ve ever worked with as a doctor. Her patients claim that she heals them in many ways,” Hank replied.

 

Hank and Boris rode in one of the large black SUV’s used by Khalil’s team because it was more comfortable for Hank to sit upright; sitting in the Porche Panamera was too much like lounging and for Hank, he had to be either upright or fully lying down to feel less discomfort. The SUV was preceded and followed by similar vehicles with three guards in each one. They made an impressive caravan on the roads from Hamptons Heritage to the Shadow Pond property.

The cars pulled into the property and swung around the wide parking area at the front of the house in an arc so that Boris could get out first and assist Hank out of the vehicle directly in front of the main entrance doorway. The SUV’s stopped and Hank saw the banner from the now open window of the car, and the entire staff of Shadow Pond was there outside as a group applauding respectfully. Hank’s smile was so very wide. Daniel opened Boris’ door and he stepped out of the car; Yussef had brought the wheelchair up and locked the wheels. Boris helped Hank out of the vehicle slowly, and the applause became more enthusiastic. 

The entire trip home had been more movement than Hank had been accustomed to and he groaned a little bit. Hank put his arm around Boris’ shoulder and Boris eased him up, over and into the wheelchair. 

“Wow!” Hank exclaimed, “This is terrific!” as he waved at everyone.

Yussef unlocked the wheels and Boris began to push Hank forward to the group. Everyone came and surrounded Hank and Boris, and there were words of welcome said in many languages with also a great deal of bowing. It was quite a joyful reunion. Hank looked up at Boris and smiled, he was very happy.

Inside the house, the main entrance foyer was decorated with balloons and flowers and there was food and beverage for all. There was lively music playing in the back ground – Udo had refrained from hiring musicians as he felt this was an ultra-private/Shadow Pond-only event and no outsiders were allowed. Chef Henri and his culinary team had prepared quite a self-service feast and he personally expressed the concern he felt over Boris and Hank having to have eaten hospital food for far more days than should have been allowed; in Chef’s mind, one meal at the hospital was one meal too many, never mind over four days worth, “C’est terrible!” Chef exclaimed.

Evan came up to the two of them and said, “I also wanted to get a bounce house, but Divya said ‘NO’ and hit me again – look at the bruise!”

A couple of happy hours passed as everyone enjoyed having Boris and Hank home once more. Boris kept a watch on Hank and noticed that Hank had now grown quite weary, so he decided it was time for them to leave the festivities. Hank waved to everyone and said thanks to everyone. Boris navigated the wheelchair through the crowd and began down the hallway to their apartment.

Moving down the quiet hallway alone was a treat for both of them. Hank said, “Three things: first, that was a great party; second, who would have thought a car ride would be so painful? And third, do you know that you have taught how me how to truly enjoy peace and quiet?”

Boris smiled and silently continued down the long hallway. He wheeled Hank into their apartment, closed the door and asked, “Would you like to lie down now, my beloved One?”

“Yeah, that would be nice, thank you, Tree.” Hank said quietly. He was very tired and in some degree of pain, he needed to remember to have Boris bring him a pain pill.

Boris wheeled Hank to their bed and helped Hank up from the wheelchair; he held onto Hank gently for a moment, Hank returned the embrace fiercely. Boris pulled away slightly, looked into Hank’s eyes and smiled in that shy way of his when he grew sentimental or somewhat sad. Hank smiled widely back and said, “I’m so glad that we’re home now.”

Boris eased Hank to sit on the bed, (Hank’s pain made him grimace although he tried not to) and then Boris knelt on the floor in front of him. Boris took off Hank’s shoes and put them aside and together on the floor; and then Boris placed the side of his head on top of Hank’s thighs, and held onto Hank’s legs tightly. Hank put his hands on top of Boris’ head and stroked his hair; and they stayed like this for a few silent moments. 

Boris had been waiting for this moment and said, “I did not plan well enough for our safety…I did not think that they would be so rash…I have failed to protect you.” Boris turned his head to look up at Hank, his eyes full of desperation, “Can you ever forgive me?”

Hank replied quickly, “I don’t blame you for any of this, please, Boris, there isn’t anything to forgive; you didn’t know what they were going to do, nobody did. This is all on them right now, they are the bad guys not you,” Hank could see the pain in Boris’ eyes.

It appeared that Boris needed to say more and so Hank remained silent and was attentive.

“The moments that I saw you bleeding all over the floor shall be moments which will haunt me always. I felt such rage; I felt that I would lose control and retaliate in the fashion of Hammurabi’s Code. Have you ever heard of this? An ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth’?” Boris said sadly.

Hoping to distract Boris somewhat and now also curious as to what Boris was talking about, Hank said truthfully, “I have heard of that but I don’t remember what that was from.”

The latent teacher in Boris said, “King Hammurabi was the sixth king of the first Babylonian Dynasty in the mid-1700’s BC. He developed a code of 282 laws which defined the society at that time. The most notable of those laws was number 196, which essentially was if an eye was taken, an eye shall be taken in punishment. Those rules, while seemingly brutal are…” Boris trailed off.

Hank took Boris’ face with both of his hands and pulled him upward and toward him so that Hank could kiss him without bending over. 

Boris moved fluidly and leaned against the bed in between Hank’s legs so that he was closer. Hank kissed Boris with tenderness three times, Hank could sense that Boris’ melancholy was starting to return and wanted to try and stop it as quickly as he could. Hank looked into Boris’ eyes and said plainly, “You and I are home now and we are safe. Believe this. We are here together. That is all that matters right now and always. Can you do a few things for me?”

“Of course, anything, name them,” Boris said with a growing eagerness to help.

“Lock our door – no more interruptions or visitors; then help me get into my sleeping clothes; and you get comfortable, too. We ate at the party so I don’t think we need dinner. Let’s call it an early night; I would really like for us to be close, here in our bed and I’d like us to fall asleep in each other’s arms. Oh, I also need to take a pain pill,” Hank instructed.

“I am at your service,” Boris replied; he stood up and then set about to quickly do everything that Hank described. He too, longed to hold Hank in his arms. 

Soon, the two of them were surrounded by pillows and soft blankets, both warm and comfortable. Hank was waiting for the medication to kick in and experienced some discomfort; he had trouble getting settled. Boris looked distressed at this, but Hank assured him this was normal. Fifteen minutes after swallowing the pill, Hank began to feel the release from the pain and told Boris he was going to be fine.

“If you need anything, anything at all, during the night, simply wake me; please let me help…I need to help you somehow,” Boris said in earnest.

“I promi…” and Hank drifted off to sleep.


	9. Rara avis, Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are sometimes fortunate to meet people in the world who are distinct and rare.  
> Sometimes, we find that we are in the same category.

The exertion from having left the hospital, the homecoming party, and the pain pill all contributed to Hank being able to sleep through the night. Hank slept so soundly that Boris, who woke every two hours to check on Hank, had to make certain he was still alive. Boris’ favorite way to do this was to kiss Hank’s neck beneath his ear and Hank appeared to smile even while he slept.

Boris got out of bed at seven a.m., and he moved carefully so as not to wake Hank. He walked silently barefoot across the wood floor to see if Udo had brought the morning coffee service to them. Boris unlocked and opened the door as quietly as he could. As always, the rolling cart was there waiting. He rolled it into their apartment, closed the door, and moved it over to the window seating area. Boris became randomly curious at how quiet the cart was; he would have to remember to ask Udo how was it that nothing rattled. ‘Carts always rattle, do they not?’ Boris absently thought to himself. Boris smiled slightly as he admired the way the cart was arranged and it included (in addition to the coffee and some other items) a small vase of flowers, a silver basket brimming with glossy pastries and cookies (Hank’s favorite), and a small crystal bowl of whole, shelled black walnuts (Boris’ favorite ‘snack’ food). Boris looked back at their bed and could barely see Hank as he was surrounded and covered by blankets and pillows and still asleep.

As he stepped to the window, Boris opened the curtains and felt the early morning sunlight wash over him (which he savored for a few moments) as he looked outside across the gardens. “Yes, it is good to be home with my Hank,” Boris whispered to himself. 

As he turned to retrieve and don his robe, then take care in the bath room, Boris’ mind began to think about the phone calls which he needed to make during the day. He wanted answers now; he needed to know that this ‘fait accompli’ (as he had started to privately name this messy business) was finished on its many levels. 

The family had created so much trouble, and Boris had anticipated most of their moves, but they had taken it one step too far, and it engaged all of Boris’ willpower not to retaliate. He had decided to not lower himself to the family’s level of barbaric behavior; and this decision came to him because of Hank. Boris’ entire life had always been filled with family intrigue and it truly required an effort not to revert back into old habits. 

Boris relied on his inner-most self, the strength to maintain a higher sense of reason and purpose and knew that Hank would approve of his restraint. Boris had discovered that he desired Hank’s approval most of all. Without Hank in his life – his gentle, brilliant, loving, clever, joyful Hank - Boris felt that he would have ground himself eventually downward into abject despair and loneliness in spite of being surrounded by so much wealth and the world at his fingertips.

All Boris wanted now was to live the rest of his life with Hank in peace and in safety; he wanted to share in all of the many joys of life with Hank; Boris had the resources to do so and more. Boris wanted to now also help and provide for others in need - which he had plans to do - and to expand on what he was already doing, but he wanted to do these things with Hank by his side; and Boris knew that Hank would also want to do these things with him. 

Boris had thought, too, that hopefully then after many decades together, he and Hank would pass from this world as very old and very happy men, knowing that they were each gifted with having the love of their life in each other until the end. 

Boris had truthfully wanted this from the very moment he met Hank. Boris then asked quietly of his reflection in the mirror, “Is this really so unreasonable of a request? How much more do I need to do; how much more patience must I exercise in this life?” 

Boris continued to look at himself in the mirror as he finished brushing his hair when suddenly all manner of thoughts and worries crashed in on his mind and seemed to him to be as loud as his hairbrush as it fell into the sink. He held onto the vanity’s stone edge tightly in order to remain standing upright, he took a sharp intake of breath and looked down into the sink staring intently at the brush for a moment before he closed his eyes. He said quietly to himself a mantra he had recently begun to use, “Breathe…I cannot falter, not today or any day now…I cannot be weak, not today, or any day now…I must be strong for Hank today and every day now…breathe…”

“Boris?” sounded Hank’s voice from the bed.

Gratefully ripped away from the painful wave of anxiety that Boris had just experienced, he called out, turned, walked quickly into the bedroom and over to the bed, “Good morning, H-hank!” Boris sat down and leaned over to kiss Hank quite eagerly, then asked as he looked intently into Hank’s eyes, “How are you feeling?” 

“Well, huh, a lot better now, do that again!” Hank said smiling and willingly Boris obeyed.

Hank looked at Boris and saw something else in Boris’ eyes besides affection, but thought it would be best not to pursue it at the moment. 

“I know that you slept well, as you did not move very often. Breakfast is here and I believe you will enjoy the sunlight in the seating area,” Boris said all of this almost too quickly. He was trying to sound cheerful for Hank’s sake as well as his own.

“Yeah, this beats being in the hospital a million times over,” Hank replied happily, “Help me up.”

Hank then decided that he wanted to try and walk over to the seating area and not ride in the wheelchair. Boris didn’t say anything, but pursed his lips a bit and looked at Hank sincerely. Hank saw this expression and said, “All right, can I at least hold onto your arm then as I walk over?”

Attempting to make a joke, Boris said flatly, “You can hold onto anything that is attached to me, Hank.”

“Oh, believe you me, when I’m fully recovered, there’s going to be a lot of holding!” Hank replied cheerfully.

Hank made it to one of the chairs by walking slowly and most definitely holding onto Boris’ arm. Hank grimaced a little bit and moaned when he sat down. Boris asked him if he wanted to take a pain pill with his breakfast and Hank said no.

Boris was very attentive and served Hank his coffee with style. Hank was very excited about the cookies. Boris also announced that there were hard boiled eggs, cheese, croissants, and fruit on the cart for their breakfast.

“What’s the plan for today?” Hank asked as Boris sat down in the other chair.

“Some business for me, eh, I mean, for us and the rest of the time, I should like to take care of you. I have a few phone calls to make: Hamptons Heritage, Hamptons Police Department, Gaspard from Diane’s team in New York, and then two calls to Germany. I also thought that we could move you about the house - in the wheelchair – like taking a walk, there will be lunch at some point and you shall definitely need to lie down this afternoon for a good long rest, perhaps to even sleep,” Boris stated.

“Oh, you’re right, I going to have to take this slow and easy…just because I’m home doesn’t mean I’m 100% better,” Hank said this more of a reminder to himself than anything else.

Boris nodded his head, took another sip of coffee and looked out the window.

“Are you okay, Boris?” Hank asked after taking a drink of his coffee.

“Ja, I am fine, as well as can be expected. Truthfully, I believe that this traumatic experience has affected us both, in different ways, of course; we shall both need to take time to heal,” Boris said. 

After a moment, Hank took another drink of his coffee, then said with a resigned tone, “I was really looking forward to our honeymoon.”

Boris looked at Hank with a sad expression that he couldn’t hide, and didn’t want to (not any more), and nodded his head in agreement before looking out the window again, “Ja, me too.”

“About the phone calls, is there anything I can do to help?” Hank asked.

“You can certainly be with me when I make them, although I shall need to speak French on one and German on the other two,” Boris stated with a sorrowful tone. He knew what Hank was going to ask him next.

“Can I ask what is going to be said on those calls?” Hank asked and experienced that familiar feeling of how private Boris used to be with him. Over their months together, Boris had opened up to Hank and had shared more than Hank thought possible for a man like Boris. Hank never really wanted to push because Boris would shut down when he did, but sometimes it was truly necessary; those times were rough for both of them. Boris simply wasn’t accustomed to having someone so close to him that he could trust completely. Hank knew that Boris’ habit of keeping his information inside was many decades old and it was a struggle for Boris to feel the freedom of having someone to help ‘shoulder the burden’. Hank knew somewhat of, but suspected there was more of, that Boris had been hurt and taken advantage of, many times and in many ways, and it was no wonder why Boris acted the way he did.

Boris finished his coffee and got up to pour himself another, he asked, “Would you like another cup?”

“Yeah, and an egg, some cheese and another cookie, please,” Hank replied cheerfully as he waited for Boris to answer him.

“You have a very good appetite this morning,” Boris smiled slightly; he now enjoyed hearing Hank say the word ‘cookie’. After preparing and serving, he sat down again and looked at Hank, who had been watching him the entire time and had noticed that Boris still had not eaten anything.

“I am calling Hamptons Heritage to leave a message for Nurse Joanne with an invitation for her to join us at lunch early next week. Next, I am calling the Hamptons Police Department to ascertain whether they were able to glean any more information from the assailant whilst he is in their custody. I am calling Gaspard for an update on the remaining legalities surrounding this entire situation,” Boris paused, “which includes the trial, sentencing, extradition, and incarceration process,” Boris’ eyes took on a hard metallic look, “I have demanded that he (Boris said this through clenched teeth) spend the rest of his life in prison with no parole for what he has done to you.”

Hank asked, “Do we need to attend the trial?”

“No, we do not,” Boris stated, “We are not being required to be present in court as there appears to be a great deal of proof available to determine him guilty as charged,” Boris then said hesitantly, “We also have an exceptional legal team. The fact that there were over two dozen witnesses, and that the weapon was covered with his fingerprints…and your blood…makes for an ample amount of evidence. I was pleased to hear that we would not be summoned, as I do not believe it would be healthy for either of us to be in that situation. You are technically not supposed to travel and the trial will be held in New York, and I feel that if I were to be in the same general vicinity, eh, my interaction with him would be rather uncomfortable for him, and most likely not appropriate in a courtroom setting, ja?”

Hank understood Boris’ frustration (but could only guess the actual depth of Boris’ anguish) and thought back to when he had seen (from his vantage point on the cafeteria floor) Boris in that rage and ready to kill the man. Hank remembered the look of bloodlust in Boris’ eyes and shivered involuntarily, but covered that movement up as he moved slightly his seat. Hank could sense that Boris still wanted to kill the man for what he did and tried to do, and Hank now knew just how protective Boris could be. Hank was very proud of Boris and the self-control he exhibited towards the assailant. Hank wanted to let Boris know just how proud he was of the composure Boris showed; Hank hoped that if he told Boris this, at the right moment, it would be something Boris could take comfort in.

Boris continued, “My first call to Germany will be to the President of the Federal Police asking for his direct assistance in this matter. He has most likely been informed of the situation and I wanted to personally express my desire to him as to what should happen to the…criminal…as well as to alert him further of my family’s involvement. Aside from the business at hand, he is a rather jolly fellow to speak with, and to drink with, and it will be a pleasure to chat with him again – it has been a while,” Boris smiled at that memory, “My second call to Germany will be to a contact I have there who is working on Andres Lehmann’s and the rest of my family’s participation in this. I want to see how deep this pestilence in my family is and root it out once and for all.”

Hank smiled fondly at Boris and said, “I love you.”

It was what Boris needed at that moment and he put down his coffee cup quickly, rose from his chair and went over to Hank and knelt down in front of him and between his legs. Boris reached to gently hold Hank’s face in his hands, his expression softened and his eyes admiring as he said, “I love you back.”

They looked into each other’s eyes and kissed with tenderness. Hank moved slightly away and tried to hide the pain he suddenly felt from his abdomen. 

Boris saw this and was instantly concerned, “Shall I bring you the medication?”

After the wave of a sharp pain subsided, Hank nodded his head and said, “Yes, please; I guess I’m going to have to get used to this.”

 

A short while later, Hank and Boris finished dressing and were getting ready to ‘stroll and roll’ (as Hank called it). Boris had just settled Hank into the wheelchair when Udo knocked once on their apartment door and entered carrying an elegant arrangement of flowers. 

“From your girlfriend?” both men asked at the same time.

Udo’s eyebrows went up as Boris and Hank both laughed out loud; Hank clutched his side, bowed his head, and tried to breathe through the pain. He waved Boris off with his hand.

They were from Counsel Diane and her team. Udo placed the arrangement on a table near the seating area and the sunlight coming in from the window made the magenta cymbidium orchids, pink Asiatic lilies, and ti leaves look even more stunning. 

Udo handed Hank the ivory-colored card to read the hand-written inscription. “Hey! It’s from Diane, she says: ‘Dear Hank, We hope this brightens your days. We are happy to hear that you are now at home. Please get well quickly. Warmest Regards, Diane, Gaspard, Heinrich, Ronald, Feng’. That was really thoughtful of them!” Hank exclaimed.

Udo then cheerfully said, “Lunch shall be served at noon, Sirs, in the Parlor Dining Room. Chef Henri has made what he calls ‘Healing Soup’!”

 

Boris pushed the wheelchair and the two of them enjoyed the time traveling down the quiet corridors of Shadow Pond. Hank asked Boris how they were going to get up to the second floor (where Boris’ office was) with the wheelchair just as Boris wheeled Hank in front of an ornate door which opened to a lift.

“Oh, that way!” Hank said in a delighted tone. He didn’t know that Shadow Pond even had a lift and had thought he was going to have to try and climb the grand staircase. This was something that Hank was not looking forward to doing at all as he had begun to understand his current physical limitations.

Boris said, “Let us make some phone calls and,” as he looked at his Baume and Mercier Classima Executives Watch, “then it should be time for lunch, ja?”

They went to Boris’ office and Boris wheeled Hank to be beside his desk. They used Boris’ desk phone which had excellent speakerphone capabilities. 

The call to Hamptons Heritage was pleasant and Nurse Joanne was actually available to take their call. She was excited at receiving the luncheon invitation and accepted enthusiastically. She would be there at Shadow Pond on Tuesday.

The call to the Hamptons Police Department was all business and they learned that the assailant had not divulged any more information; in fact, he had stopped talking all together. His broken rib and the slight puncture wound in his throat were healing as expected. Hank could have sworn that the look on Boris’ face, although Boris did not verbally respond to the medical news, screamed ‘too bad he is healing’. During the police department phone call, Boris stood up from his desk and started to slowly pace back and forth; Boris also kept looking at his watch. 

The next call was to Gaspard in New York and Boris’ pacing became quite a bit faster. Hank marveled at Boris’ fluid command of the French language. Boris had also begun to gesture as he paced almost the width of the office and all of this was very unusual for Boris to do. Hank sat there, watched, and listened. Hank was attentive although he had no idea what was being said. Boris would look at Hank from time to time, Gaspard would speak, and sometimes Boris would stand still and look at Hank, for a moment his expression would soften and then change back into one with a tense jaw and ‘laser beam’ eyes (Hank’s description). After the call, Boris recounted the details for Hank and they were both relieved that all was on track legally as well. Boris had also asked Gaspard to share Hank’s appreciation for the get well flowers with the rest of the team. 

The call to New York took longer than anticipated and Boris said, “I believe we should break for lunch now, are you agreeable to this, Hank? It will be interesting to discover what this ‘Healing Soup’ is that Chef has created for us.”

Boris had never been interested in soup until Hank came to be with him and during Boris’ convalescence, Hank asked Chef to create soups which would help nourish Boris back into health; goodness knows he needed help badly back then. It intrigued Hank to see Boris’ curiosity about the soup.

 

Lunch was delicious and it revived both of them. Chef had made a type of Asian soup with seared pork shoulder, baby bok choy, green scallions, shitake mushrooms and Chinese Five Spice served over Jasmine rice. 

Hank admitted to Boris, during lunch, that he was feeling tense about the phone calls.

Boris said, “I am sorry Hank, but the earlier calls were easy. The calls to Germany will be challenging and I may need a nap afterwards or…” he trailed off.

“Or…” Hank prompted him to continue.

Boris sighed and said, “Or preferably to get a good deal of drunk.”

Trying to lighten the mood, Hank said with a charming smile, “How about we save the ‘good deal of drunk’ until I’m all healed up and together we can recreate that night in New York here.”

“You enjoy teasing me, do you not?” Boris said with a disappointed tone to his voice as he looked across the room.

“I’m just trying to give us something to look forward to,” Hank stated innocently.

 

The calls to Germany were indeed very taxing on Boris. Back in the office, Hank once again sat attentively listening to a language he didn’t know. Boris’ mannerisms were quite different during these calls than when he spoke with Gaspard. Boris didn’t pace; he sat at his desk, his whole body controlled tightly and his movements were quick and efficient. The only outwardly noticeable, nervous movement was that Boris would clench his left fist and then rub the ends of his fingers with his thumb. Boris also spoke in a reserved voice, which to Hank was more alarming that when he was loudly speaking French and gesturing. To Hank’s ears, the clipped tones, the more quiet volume, and the lengthy sentences made Boris appear more deadly and powerful than Hank had ever remembered seeing Boris. 

At the end of the first call, however, which was to the President of the Federal Police, Boris relaxed quite a bit and even laughed out loud. They had discussed business first and then moved on to more pleasant topics. The President and Boris were old friends and they began to reminisce about the times when they were younger and how they went carousing together and had caused great amounts of trouble. Hank delighted in seeing Boris’ face light up as he smiled widely.

Afterwards, Boris told Hank he would explain later as it was a ‘rather funny story’. “You shall see that I was not always as reserved as I am now,” Boris looked slyly at Hank, “There may even have been some dancing…”

The last call was to Boris’ contact and back went on the mantle of seriousness. Hank didn’t think that Boris could sound any more intimating, but it happened during that call.

When he finished, Boris put his elbows on the desk and rubbed his hands together before putting his forehead into his hands briefly and then rubbed his eyes. Boris looked very tired and Hank felt badly for him. “Ah, I think that nap is in order, ja?” Boris asked wearily.

“Yeah, I’m exhausted and all I did was watch you talk,” Hank agreed. Hank almost asked what the outcome of these calls was, but then thought that Boris would tell him when he was ready to do so. Hank was very curious, but he would wait.

 

Hank took another pain pill and had a lot of discomfort that afternoon until it kicked in. Their shoes were off and those were neatly placed side-by-side on the floor at the foot of the bed, the men were still dressed although Boris had removed his jacket, and they were in bed, lying on top of the decorative coverings and leaned back against several large pillows; Boris was behind Hank and held him gently, their legs were stretched out and they lounged there in the tranquility of their bedroom. Sometimes, they would touch each other’s feet; both of them still wore socks. Boris kissed Hank’s hair and Hank gripped Boris’ arms a little tighter. Hank still did not ask Boris about the Germany calls as he knew that Boris was processing everything in his mind and Hank had to trust he wouldn’t need to ask what happened. Comfort took them eventually as they both drifted off into an afternoon nap.

 

Hank woke first and discovered that he was lying on his back with Boris next to him on his left side facing him with Boris’ left arm under Hank’s neck and bent around and across Hank. Boris had his right arm across Hank’s chest, his right leg across Hank’s legs as if Boris was trying to protect him with his whole body. Boris’ face was next to Hank’s ear and Hank could feel Boris’ warm breath against his skin. Hank wondered what time it was; he moved slightly and was able to see Boris’ wristwatch – they had been asleep for two hours. ‘Now that’s a serious afternoon nap,’ Hank thought to himself. 

Hank suddenly wondered if the two of them would ever have any peace. It seemed that Boris was trying desperately to make matters right for them and all of the power and energy he exerted in doing so exhausted him completely. The doctor in Hank wondered if there was something else, medically, as well. Hank then remembered that they hadn’t done blood work on Boris in a while and made a mental note to do that as soon as he could.

“Moments like these are more valuable to me than all of the riches in the world,” Boris said softly in Hank’s ear.

Hank smiled and said, “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, my beloved One, I have just awakened,” Boris’ tone was calm, “Please never hesitate to wake me though if you need anything, please give me a chance to be viable to you, yes?”

“Of course, Boris,” Hank said confidently.

Boris shifted slightly and then realized that he had practically enveloped Hank with his limbs, “Please forgive me, Hank, I did not realize I was smothering you with my body.”

They looked at each other, Hank smiled the type of smile that usually brought a delighted expression to Boris’ face and said, “I didn’t mind that at all. I don’t want to move and yet I know I should move.”

Boris did not smile, but he leaned back and noticed that Hank’s shirt had pulled up a little from his waist exposing part of the bandage over the stab wound. He looked down at it and moved his hand to raise the shirt up more to further to view the whole bandage. Boris asked, “Do you think we should look at your wound to see how it is healing?”

“That’s a good idea, that bandage has been on for two days now. I should probably put on a fresh one,” Hank said as he raised his head and looked down at it.

“No, I should change your bandage for you; I can be a good nurse, ja?” Boris asked simply.

“Okay, Nurse Boris,” Hank said smiling.

Boris got up and as he retrieved the medical supplies from the bath room, he called out, “Do you need your medication, Hank?” 

“No, not right now; I’ll take one before we go to bed tonight,” Hank called back.

Boris walked back over to the bed with his hands full of bandages and other supplies; he wasn’t sure what was needed so he brought practically everything. Boris sat down on the bed, spread it all out neatly, looked at Hank and then at Hank’s abdomen. Boris lifted Hank’s shirt and moved his trouser waistband completely away from the area and gently began to peel back the medical tape. The two-inch long, red slice went vertically up Hank’s smooth, tanned skin. 

There was no swelling or discharge, but there were many stitches; Hank looked down at it and nodded his approval, “They did a really nice job.”

Boris wasn’t thinking that at all; he was actually staring at it, then Boris’ expression went blank as he began to witness again in his mind the moments when it happened. He blinked somewhat quickly – he saw Hank’s surprised expression after the knife had pierced his body, Boris saw Hank’s blood cascading down his clothing and from behind his hand as Hank had tried to put pressure on the wound, he then saw Hank on the floor grimacing in pain with the doctors all around him working quickly to stop the bleeding - and Boris’ hands started to shake a little bit. 

“Boris? Come back to me right now, look at me, Boris!” Hank said firmly becoming alarmed and hoping to break what was happening with Boris, “Come on Boris, breathe for me. I need you here with me, Boris.” Hank took his hand and firmly patted Boris’ arm quickly.

Boris shook his head and complied slowly, but didn’t look at Hank though he nodded his head, “Eh, what should I do next?” He asked quietly.

“Spread a little bit of that WinVivo Ointment across the stitches and then cover it with the dressing and tape it down on all sides,” Hank instructed.

Before Boris did that, he paused and bent over and then placed the most gentle of kisses on Hank’s wound. Boris lingered there a moment (Hank felt Boris’ breath against his skin), Boris’ right hand gently rested on the left side of Hank’s bared abdomen, and then Boris kissed the wound again. Boris bowed his head in resignation, closed his eyes a moment, and then followed Hank’s instructions, his hands now steadier than before.

Hank didn’t say anything but his heart ached for Boris, “You’re doing a very good job, Boris, you have a nice touch; maybe you should have been a nurse,” Hank said cheerfully.

Boris turned his head and just looked at Hank with a clear expression which could have been interpreted as: ‘In your dreams, Doctor’.

All freshly bandaged now, Hank asked, “Please help me up, Tree, I need to move around a little bit.” 

Hank discovered that as long as he moved slowly, especially during a transition from lying down to sitting up or from sitting up to standing up, he was fine. He could feel the flesh tug a little bit but there weren’t the sharp pains he had experienced yesterday and earlier in the day. 

Boris was completely attentive and always made sure that Hank was settled before he stepped away to do something, either for Hank or for himself. Boris looked at the time and said, “Would you believe that it is almost time for dinner?” 

“Perfect timing, I am actually very hungry,” Hank replied. 

Boris wasn’t hungry but didn’t say anything to Hank. 

 

During dinner, Boris ate sparingly (and he knew that Hank was watching him; Boris would have preferred to not eat at all, but he didn’t want to upset Hank) and then Boris suggested that they invite Evan over for lunch the next day. Hank was very happy about that idea. Udo was there serving them and said that he would walk over later to the Guest House and invite Evan for a noon lunch. 

As they finished dinner, Boris asked Udo what the weather was like outside and his response was that it was cooling down with a breeze. Boris seemed very pleased about that and then said to Hank, “Splendid. Would you like to enjoy some port wine and cigars with me out on the Meditation Terrace this evening, Hank?”

“Yes, I would, but I am not going to have any wine, if that’s okay with you. I’d like to take a pain pill right before we go to sleep and I don’t want the wine to mix with it. Also, I’ll pass on the cigar this evening,” Hank replied.

“Understood, I am simply grateful for your company. You do not mind of my partaking, do you?” Boris asked formally.

“Not at all, Boris,” Hank said smiling; he hoped that Boris would talk about the Germany calls because Hank just knew that Boris would not sleep well if he kept that business bottled up inside. Hank prepared himself for the possibility of having to try and force Boris into telling him how the calls went.

Boris assisted Hank into the wheelchair and they ‘strolled and rolled’ through the house to the lift. “We are getting quite good at this, are we not?” Boris said with a lighter tone to his voice.

 

The Meditation Terrace was the most serene place within Shadow Pond, even though the rest of house was already quiet and peaceful.

All settled in on the lounge chairs, both men enjoyed the gentle heat (absorbed over the course of the summer day) that was radiating off of the marble stonework, yet the air had coolness to it and the breeze was even more refreshing. 

Boris had a glass of port wine and enjoyed puffing on his Montecristo cigar. Hank asked Udo to bring him an ice cold root beer. “This moment is nearly perfection, ja?” Boris asked Hank as he stared at the cigar and rolled it gently between his two fingers and thumb.

“I love the way you seem to be in the moment and absorb as much pleasure out of that moment as you can,” Hank said admiringly.

“Life must be lived, Hank, and we each must find our way to live it to the best of our abilities,” Boris stated, his tone had become more relaxed and he said, “I know that you have been waiting for me to tell you about the calls to Germany. I applaud your patience with me. I just simply had to take some time to think about what I had heard on the phone.”

Hank took a drink and enjoyed the crisp sweetness of the root beer, “Yeah, I was hoping that you would eventually share the information with me. You know, Boris, I think that today was the first day that I had ever heard you speak two different languages at length in the same day; it was very impressive, and kinda scary.”

“Hmmm. Why do YOU say ‘scary’? Is not that Evan’s job to find me ‘scary’?” Boris had turned to look at Hank. The sky was in the final stages of darkening and the golden lantern light on the terrace (lit earlier by Udo) reflected richly off of the ivory marble. The light softened every surface, including the weary lines on Boris’ face. He smiled slightly at Hank and took a puff of his cigar.

“Well, beside the fact that your fluency is so natural, your voice took on a quality that I hadn’t heard before and the more monotone you got, the more powerful you appeared. I can only imagine what it’s like when you’re in a room with someone doing business with them, never mind on the phone. You’re certainly in command,” Hank said in awe.

Boris studied Hank for a moment and then humbly said, “Thank you, Hank, but it is just my way. Years of intense schooling and dedicated practice in my youth, as well as my life’s experiences – both good and bad - have molded me into what I am,” he took a sip of the port wine and another puff; he then continued with a reminiscent expression on his face, “I was always told that there would be a great deal more that I needed to accomplish in my life, greater responsibilities and worldly burdens that I would need to shoulder, and that I would have no choice but to best be prepared for it. My life has changed considerably now, I think for the better since you came to be with me; so it shall be interesting to see what the, eh, how do you say it, ‘the bigger picture’ will be for me now.”

Hank’s eyebrows went up and he said, “Like I said, sometimes you’re scary and now you’re being cryptic. I know you’re not telling me everything, but that’s okay, Boris, I will still love you no matter what you turn into or what you have to do.”

“It is comforting to know that you will always be ‘my H-hank’, ‘my beloved One’. The decades before us will be interesting and we shall bring as much enjoyment to them together as possible, ja?” Boris raised his glass and leaned over the table to touch his glass with Hank’s in a toast.

Hank smiled innocently and touched his glass to Boris’ and said, “Even if you become king of the world, I’ll still be there with you all the way.”

Boris smiled, nodded and stared at one of the bonsai trees thinking, ‘Oh, if he only knew; but it is not time, yet...’

Boris looked back at Hank, sat back in the chair, took several puffs, another sip, and said, “First, my friend, Albert, the President, wished you a quick recovery and expressed a great desire to meet you, he is curious as to the person who had finally ‘captured me’ and he has invited us to join him later this year at his home in Bonn. We shall make plans to do so, perhaps around the winter holidays, it will be an enjoyable visit. You should be completely healed by then, yes? I should warn you though that we will need to strengthen our livers as there shall be a fair amount of drinking involved.”

Boris continued, his tone becoming more matter-of-fact, “I shall give you a summary of the conversations. It would be exhausting to relate them to you verbatim.”

“Uh, you could do that? I mean, word for word?” Hank asked in surprise.

“Ja, I was tested when I was very young to have a high level of explicit memory; so it seems that many conversations and factual information stay in here,” Boris pointed to his forehead, “for quite a long time.” 

Boris continued, “Albert was completely aware of the situation and had already begun to work on the extradition and prison arrangements from his side. He of course agrees that this was a heinous crime and that the assailant should be punished accordingly; however, he believes my need to have the man imprisoned for life without parole is a bit harsh. Albert knows what I am capable of doing and told me that he did not want to be the one to incarcerate me if I was ever implicated in a revenge crime. He promised that he would do his best within the confines of the law, and I promised him that I would exercise restraint.”

“You know, Boris, I wanted to tell you that I’m very proud of your self-control. I saw what you wanted to do to that guy and I want to thank you for taking the high road,” Hank looked directly at Boris with the most sincere expression he could show.

Boris looked at Hank, smiled slightly and nodded his appreciation and showed Hank some shyness at this compliment. He then looked down at the marble floor and sighed.

“Now regarding Andres Lehmann,” Boris continued, “He is a distant cousin who was trying to make himself more valuable to the Kuester clan by offering to hire the assassin in secret; he thought his distance to the family would make him invisible and he was the one who suggested the plan. Little did Andres know that the Kuesters had decided to ‘throw away’ both men at the first sign of any mishap or trouble. The Kuesters gave Andres up like a lamb to the slaughter; they thought they would be forgiven for having such ill designs if they did so. They were not forgiven and were forced to accept severe and public admonishment, in return, as well as the requirement of paying hefty fines to the German state for breaking the laws of conspiracy and whatnot; they are also receiving a great amount of negative notoriety. This, I know, hurts them the most as they are quite a vain group.”

Boris paused, took a slow and long sip of the port wine, as well as several puffs on the cigar, he looked at one of the lanterns behind Hank’s right side. Hank could see the reflection of the flame from the lantern dancing in Boris’ eyes before Boris moved his eyes to look at Hank.

“When they were confronted by the investigators, they admitted that they were furious at the changes I had made to my life because they felt it was interfering with their overall plans of the family history. They felt, however erroneous, that if they eliminated the problem ‘by means decided upon solely by Andres’,” Boris stopped, took a deep breath and said, “the problem of you being with me, that everything would go back to the way it was, the way they wanted it, and have potentially have more control over me. They had alluded to others being involved but would say nothing further.”

Hank stared down into his glass and watched the ice move around with the bubbles. Hank felt saddened by the toll this was taking on Boris. This became overshadowed by Hank’s growing physical pain at the moment – due to all of the moving around he did during the day – he would need to take another pain pill soon.

Boris went on, “Andres has been arrested and is also awaiting trial. I have told my friend, Albert that I expect the same long term sentencing for him as for the assailant.”

“Lastly, since it is not clear if the Kuesters were working with the von Jurgen clan, because, if you remember, I had learned they were ‘still deciding and critical’…” Boris said.

Hank interrupted, still looking into his glass, and said bitterly, “Yeah, and that you are in a phase and obsessed with an American playmate and they were going to wait until you were normal again; yeah, I can’t forget that part.” 

Boris looked at Hank with compassion and affection, and smiled slightly, “Hence the reason for the last call. Let me just say this, I know people who can learn things for us and they are doing so. They will continue to watch, listen, and learn and someday we may yet find out the remaining details of all who were involved. For now, I believe we can breathe a bit easier, and perhaps ease the security levels around Shadow Pond and us, if only just a bit. Would you agree that we should leave that in Khalil’s hands?” Boris put his near empty glass down on the side table, set the nearly finished cigar in the ashtray, stood up, went over to Hank and knelt down in front of him between his legs. 

They looked at each other with affection. A few quiet moments passed, and they smiled slightly at each other. Hank nodded and Boris nodded in return. Boris raised himself up, but was still kneeling, and leaned into Hank to take Hank’s face in his hands and kissed him urgently. 

Boris then pulled back and looked at Hank and said, “You look very weary my beloved One; you are in pain, yes? Let us retire for the evening; I am spent as well.”

“This is a good idea. Honestly, I think I moved around too much today, I don’t feel very good,” Hank admitted.

Boris became concerned as he stood up, “Should I call the hospital?”

“No, it’s okay; I just overdid it today. And, I hate to say this, but you look exhausted,” Hank said gently.

“Ja, I agree,” Boris said as he went to get the wheelchair, “Let us get into bed and try to get a good night’s sleep. We have nothing to do tomorrow, but to sleep, have lunch with Evan, and continue to heal.”

 

~~~

 

Lunch with Evan was a ‘riot’ for Hank, meaning that Evan did his best to make Hank laugh. Hank had taken half of a pain pill before lunch, which was just enough to dampen the pain, but not enough to make him drowsy. The two brothers were quite amusing to watch with their sarcastic banter and gesturing, as they reminisced about all manner of situations that they had gotten themselves into, and brotherly verbal jabs all made for an interesting lunch time for Boris. He didn’t say much, but that was fine, he didn’t have much to say anyway. This lunch was for Hank and Evan, and Boris was quite pleased that they were getting along so well. Boris had never intended to be a wedge between them as Evan had originally believed, and he was grateful that had been resolved; Boris simply wanted for Hank to be his husband and continue to be Evan’s big brother.

At one point, Evan asked Boris why he was so quiet. Boris replied, “I am simply enjoying watching the two of you…connect, I do not believe I have ever met a pair of brothers who are similar, you are quite unique.”

“Unique? Why unique?” Evan asked.

“Your wordplay is truly witty and very private to your common situation; I can only guess about some of the things that you are discussing and perhaps that is good for me. I get the impression I should not be on a ‘need to know’ basis about some of the antics that the two of you are referring to. Have you always finished each other’s sentences?” Boris asked politely and took a sip of iced tea.

Simultaneously: Hank said, “Pretty much,” and, Evan said, “All the time.” 

Evan asked, “So, Boris, where you’re from, there wouldn’t be brothers like me and Hank?”

“Where I am from, Evan, indeed there are brothers with close relationships such as what you both have, however, the animated display of jovial camaraderie which the two of you are displaying this afternoon would be highly frowned upon in my specific social station. However…” Boris was trying very hard to be diplomatic, “…in other subordinate social stations, it would be conventional.”

Hank said, “Evan, what Boris is trying to say,” and Hank started to laugh and held his side for a moment trying to breathe, “Is that we’d be considered the village idiots!” Hank continued to laugh.

“Eh, no, I did not mean it that way…” Boris said innocently and looked alarmed.

“Ha! This is really funny…” Evan said as he laughed and gestured, “Hank! Do you remember the time when we went to that Renaissance Faire and they had a village idiot guy sitting in a mud puddle and shouting insults at people?!”

“I do remember that! That was so much fun, it was hot as hell that day and he was cooler than anyone because he was covered in mud! So much for being an idiot!” Hank exclaimed.

Evan held up his glass and gave a toast, “To happy village idiots everywhere!”

Hank replied cheerfully, “Cheers!”

Boris replied quite a bit more subdued, “Cheers…I think…”

 

As Boris wheeled Hank back to their apartment so that Hank could take an afternoon nap, he asked, “Would you like to have a standing lunch invitation with Evan every week, say perhaps every Saturday?”

“Yeah, I would really like that, great idea. I had so much fun this afternoon, my brother is really weird, but I love him,” Hank said. Hank was very happy that Boris and Evan were getting along. Hank wondered if the (however odd) relationship that Boris now had with Evan gave Boris a sense of some kind of family. Hank realized that Boris really didn’t have ‘close family’ except for maybe the Shadow Pond staff, but that wasn’t really a family; in Hank’s world, family didn’t bow to each other.

Hank then thought about his father and sighed. Hank just couldn’t bring himself to be friendlier with Eddie and he certainly wasn’t going to ask Boris to be friendlier either. Eddie had really messed things up that way. Evan had shared with Hank (in private) that Boris asked Evan to not say anything about the attack to Eddie. Evan said that Boris was deeply concerned for Hank and the less-than-comfortable last meeting with Eddie had completely strained that relationship. Boris had also asked Evan to let Hank decide when he would choose to share, if ever, the news of the attack with Eddie. Hank hadn’t decided on what to do about that whole situation yet and he determined that he wasn’t going to that for a while.

Hank said, “This is very different that you are suggesting this weekly lunch instead of me, Boris. Are you going to be able to put up with Evan that often?”

“Of course, Hank, after what we have been through, I feel that I could almost endure anything at this point in time,” Boris smiled and made a mental note to talk to Udo and to set up this weekly arrangement with Evan. 

 

As Boris helped Hank to settle in for his nap, Hank asked, “What are you going to do right now?”

“I should like to take a walk throughout the house; I may even go for a swim,” Boris said pleasantly, “But I shall have my phone with me, so if you need anything, anything all, please call me. Do not try and do anything yourself.”

“Okay, see its right here on the nightstand,” Hank replied as he pointed to it.

Boris was sitting on the edge of the bed and he leaned over to kiss Hank tenderly. Boris looked into Hank’s eyes and smiled in the small way he usually smiled, “Rest now, my beloved One.”

Hank smiled widely and nodded his head.

 

Boris left their apartment and silently closed the door behind him. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and checked it to make sure it was functioning. He didn’t want to miss any calls from Hank. Boris walked with ease, and in his usual stately manner, down the corridors of Shadow Pond. He even had his cane with him. He surveyed the areas he walked through and he admired the furnishings and décor. He was very proud of Shadow Pond and loved the house a great deal (as much as one could love an inanimate object) and now that Hank was in it and with him, home-life for Boris was complete. 

Along the way, Boris met up with some of the staff on duty that afternoon, and they exchanged their standard formal greetings; the staff always bowed to Boris which he accepted with a gracious, slight nod of his head. The individual staff members asked if there was anything that he needed at the moment, and continued to bow to him. They also asked about Dr. Hank and made additional offers of service. 

When Boris was walking through the foyer, Udo met him, bowed slightly and asked if he could be of assistance. Boris said, “Walk with me, Udo.”

Udo asked, “I hope that Dr. Hank is resting comfortably this afternoon, Sir.”

“Yes, I tucked him in and he took a half of a pill. He should have a pleasant nap. Is everything in order today?” Boris asked as he stopped briefly to admire, and touch, the enormous fresh floral arrangement which was on a large marble table that was set between the two curving flights of the grand staircase.

“Yes, Sir, all is well and there is currently nothing needing your attention at this time. May I ask, Sir, if you are well?” Udo asked respectfully.

Boris continued to walk and Udo followed him, at his left side and just behind Boris, “Yes, I am well, thank you for your concern Udo. As always, your devotion to us is appreciated.” (In the past, before Hank, whenever Boris used the term ‘us’ he was referring to only himself as befitted the royal level he had been born into; now, the ‘us’ could be interpreted as that, as well as to both Boris and Hank collectively.)

“Has Nurse Joanne passed Khalil’s background check yet?” Boris asked.

“Yes, Sir, she has and we are prepared to receive her for lunch on Tuesday,” Udo stated.

“Good. I suspect that we shall be adding her to our payroll at some point soon, so be prepared for that as well. I am hopeful that she will accept even a part-time employment offer with us and we should make it lucrative for her. Hank certainly needs the assistance of a skilled nurse at this time,” Boris stated.

Udo replied, “Yes, of course, Sir.”

They continued to walk in silence; Udo noticed that Boris was calm and that he appeared strong and healthy. Udo was greatly relieved at this as it had been a long time in coming for his Master.

Boris walked to the Pool Room and stated that he would now go for a swim. The dressing room off of the pool was always ready for whenever Boris wanted to swim and he went inside to change into his swimsuit. Udo hung up Boris’ clothing, arranged some extra towels, his robe and sandals for him, and then went to set up the espresso machine.

 

An hour later, after a revitalizing swim and his double espressos, Boris was dressed, his hair still damp, and back in their apartment sitting on the side of the bed watching Hank sleep. When Hank awoke after about ten minutes, Boris smiled sincerely at Hank and took his hand.

“How are you feeling?” Boris asked sincerely.

Rubbing his eyes and smiling, Hank said, “I feel great!”

“Do not push yourself, you are still healing. Would you like something to eat or drink?” Boris asked as he released Hank’s hand.

“Maybe just some water for now,” Hank replied, as he watched Boris stand up and walk over to the table where the ever-present carafe of water and glasses were kept. “What did you do while I was asleep?”

“I walked many of the corridors of our home and went for swim,” Boris replied as he returned to the bed, sat down and placed the filled glass on the nightstand. Boris helped Hank to sit up slowly and rearranged the pillows to better prop him upright. They smiled as they touched one another. Boris handed Hank the glass of water and Hank drank it quickly.

“On my walk, I was reminded of something that I had wanted to ask you a number of months ago, but only this afternoon had remembered,” Boris said as he took the empty glass from Hank and placed it on the nightstand, “Something that is appropriate from ‘my world’ is for the, eh, masters of the manor to sit for a formal portrait. Is this something you would be agreeable to?”

“A portrait, like as in a painting?” Hank asked curiously.

“Ja, an oil painting. We would commission an artist to paint our images together upon a large canvas, it would be framed and then we would decide on the perfect and most honorable spot in the house to install it. There are a good number of locations in the house where the painting would look quite magnificent,” Boris described this with enthusiasm and it warmed Hank’s heart.

“Uh, sure, Boris, I’ve never done anything like that before. How does the process go?” Hank asked.

“We would hire the artist, I know of two here in the States, whom we will interview first. You must develop a rapport with the artist so that the finished work is perfect and accurate. Then, there would be regular appointments where we would need to pose for the artist as he works. Lastly, the artist finalizes the painting and has it framed, delivered and installed,” Boris stated.

“We would, of course, need to dress and pose in the same way for each sitting. If we negotiate with the artist to stay here at Shadow Pond for the duration of the work, the length of time from start to finish would be less,” Boris paused a moment and asked, “Do you recall that moment, whilst I was recovering, when we were in the dressing room? I was sitting on the bench in front of the triple mirror holding the cane and you were standing next to me?”

“Yeah, I also remember what that moment led to,” Hank replied with a smile and a happy expression on his face.

“I remember it quite clearly, too, and quite fondly. That is the pose I feel is most fitting for us. Now, the only thing that I would change in our pose is that you must be on my right side and not my left; the cane will be on my left. You belong on my right side, Hank, as that is the place of honor,” Boris said proudly.

“Is that why I always sit at your right side at the dining table? I always wondered why Udo ushers me to that chair all the time. Huh, now I know and I’ll just go sit there myself and save Udo a step! Could we also wear what we wore on our beach wedding day? We could ask the artist to include the red lotus buds, too, right?” Hank asked enthusiastically.

“A splendid idea, Hank! Our portrait shall have complete symbolism relating to us: the pose is from the beginning of our time together, the cane is depicting healing and protection, and our clothing and boutonnieres from our wedding day – the official day of lives together,” Boris said and he smiled warmly at Hank.

 

~~~

 

Boris wheeled Hank into the Shadow Pond Infirmary for the first time since returning home from the hospital. Hank looked up at Boris with a sad expression. Udo followed behind them.

In a comforting, deep voice, Boris said, “Do not worry, Hank, the doctor shall be healed and will be healing others soon once again.” 

“I miss this place and I miss taking care of our staff,” Hank said quietly as he looked around, “It looks as clean as it was since before the benefit at the hospital.”

Udo said, “The House Keepers clean every room in the house, whether the room is used regularly or not, Sir.”

“That’s good to know, I’m impressed,” Hank said and pointed, “Boris, can you please wheel me over to that table?”

Boris did as he was asked. Hank then proceeded to direct Udo to gather supplies for the blood draw that Hank wanted to do on Boris. Udo laid everything out for him neatly on the table. Boris locked the wheels on the chair and Hank stood up, using the arms and the table as guides. Boris and Udo stood at ready to catch Hank if he started to waver; which he didn’t. Hank couldn’t bend over as freely as usual, but made due.

Boris took off his jacket, sat in a chair that Udo had brought over to the table, rolled up his sleeve and placed his extended right arm out onto the table, palm up; this process was very familiar to him. Boris watched Hank make the preparation to draw several different-sized vials of his blood and saw the confident expression of Dr. Hank return to his handsome face.

He finished with the draw and then Hank bundled the vials together, he wrote on a pre-printed form that had the Hamptons Heritage logo and information on it. He signed the form with his sprawling signature, put it all in a sealing bag, sealed it, and handed it to Udo, who took the bag, held it to his chest, bowed, and walked out of the Infirmary to arrange for transport of the vials to the hospital. (Udo never told either of them that he always sent the samples with an armed guard.) Hank smiled and looked at Boris as he leaned against the table, “I just love it when Udo clutches those samples of your blood like that; he treats your blood like it’s gold.”

“He is so dedicated that one; more people should take even half the care which he shows with everything that he does, ja? Udo is indeed one of our treasures,” Boris said proudly as he stood up, rolled down and buttoned his sleeve, and put his jacket back on, “How do you feel standing up?”

“Not too bad, I like leaning on the table though,” Hank replied, then shook his head, “Gees, its going take me a while to be 100% again; that thought really gets to me.”

Boris stood near Hank and looked down at him with a serious expression, almost business-like in nature and said, “My beloved One, you were stabbed. That is a serious wound. If you were a slugabed, and lazy, then you would not mind having to sit or lay down all of the time; but you are active and energetic, and so naturally you are impatient to return to your usual vibrancy,” Boris stepped closer to Hank and put his hands on both of his upper arms, “Please take all the time you need to heal and become that 100% you so desire.”

 

~~~

 

Tuesday arrived and it was the day that Nurse Joanne came to Shadow Pond to have lunch with Boris and Hank. They waited for her in main dining room and Udo escorted her through the house. 

“Wow! What a house you have here!” Joanne exclaimed as she shook hands with Boris and hugged Hank. 

“It is so good to see you again, Joanne!” Hank said enthusiastically; he was standing but holding onto one of the high back chairs at the dining table.

Boris said graciously, “Welcome to Shadow Pond, Joanne; if there is anything that you need, anything at all, simply ask.”

“Thank you very much,” she said to both of them and then looked at Hank, “You look pretty good, but I see you need a little help standing. That’s to be expected with an injury like that.”

“Yeah, the external abdominal oblique muscle got pretty ripped up and I try to stretch it without tearing it,” Hank replied.

Joanne said, “You are so lucky that your ascending colon wasn’t torn, I think the weapon just slid right in besides it.”

Boris then said with a straight face, “With all of this talk of muscles and organs, it is a good thing that we are having soup and salad for lunch, ja? Please let us be seated.”

Joanne and Hank started laughing and she asked Boris, “Do you do this all the time?”

Boris said with a tilt of his head, “Do I do what all the time?”

“That’s his way of making a joke, Joanne,” Hank said, still laughing.

Boris innocently said, “I am serious this time,” as he helped Joanne with her chair. Boris then assisted Hank to his chair. Joanne watched their interaction and on another level sensed their innate connection.

Sommelier Patrice stepped up to the table and showed Boris a bottle of wine, which he read the label and nodded his head in approval. Boris asked Joanne, “Would you like some wine this afternoon?”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” She replied.

“This is a sauvignon blanc from South Africa, from our winery actually near Cape Town. I believe you will find it refreshing,” Boris said with charm.

Hank asked, “Did you have the day off?”

“Yes! I got to sleep in, it was glorious,” Joanne replied.

The soup course was served first and it was a creamy chicken soup with carrots which Boris found to pair rather nicely with wine and he explained this. Hank smiled and was amused by Boris’ formality and Joanne was charmed by both of them.

“I hope you did not find it too invasive to go through our security chief’s requirement of a background check?” Boris asked, “It is rather standard procedure here now at Shadow Pond for anyone who has never been here.”

“I understand and no, it was fine; I’m clean and have nothing to hide,” Joanne said proudly, then more seriously, “You both are going to be okay, right, I mean, you’re safe now?”

“Yeah, we’re fine Joanne, don’t worry about us,” Hank said as he reached into a silver basket for another fresh baked roll.

Joanne looked at Boris, “Does he eat this enthusiastically all the time?”

Boris rolled his eyes and replied, “You have no idea, Joanne; watch what happens when I say the word: cookie.”

“Where!?” Hank exclaimed, smiled wickedly and looked around quickly playing into what Boris said.

She looked at Boris, “And you eat so little, there’s a balance I see forming here.”

“Yeah, don’t encourage him, Joanne, he actually needs to eat more than he does; I constantly fighting with him on this,” Hank said cheerfully.

Boris said nothing, looked at Joanne, shrugged his shoulders, and focused on the last of his soup.

Their lunch continued through the salad course, and it was a very pleasant experience for all three of them. Conversation was lively between Hank and Joanne, both talking about Hamptons Heritage-related topics and Boris enjoyed their interaction. He did make a comment about the lack of real reading material at the hospital. Joanne said that the only other thing to read there were the charts of patients.

For dessert, they were each served the most decorative arrangement of melon pieces on a delicate bone china plate that had Boris’ family crest on it in gold. They were also each served a chilled glass of Muscat wine.

Joanne said, “This is such a treat from hospital food, thank you so much!”

Boris had wanted them to adjourn to the seating area just off of the dining room to enjoy the last of the Muscat, but felt that since they would be moving to the infirmary soon, Boris didn’t want to tax Hank with excessive movement for the sake of decorum. They stayed seated and enjoyed the wine at the table.

“I should like to ask you about something, Joanne. Do you remember when we first met in Hank’s room? You asked me to step back as I was quite in the way, which I then felt compelled to do so even though I did not want to, so that you and your team could care for Hank?” Boris asked.

“I do remember, you were a mess and rightfully so, under the circumstances,” Joanne replied simply and took a sip of wine.

Boris continued, “Also, there was another moment, I do not know how long after the first one it was, when you poured for me a glass of water and even though you did not say anything, I felt compelled to drink the water – again even though I did not want to. Do you remember this as well?”

Joanne said very calmly and confidently, looking directly into Boris’ eyes, “Yes, I remember both of those times very clearly.”

Hank said, “I must have been out of it, I don’t remember any of this.”

“Hank, you would not have even known your name during the early time of your critical recovery,” Joanne stated as she looked at Hank, turned back to Boris and then asked, “What is your question, Boris?”

 

Boris looked at Joanne with the expression of truly needing to understand, “I should like to know how you managed to make me do these two actions with few or no words and a look from your eyes. I distinctly recall feeling a sense of calm and assurance that came over me, that all would be well in spite of the chaos around me and my fear…” Boris looked at Hank and then back at Joanne, “…of losing Hank. Are you an esoteric healer, Joanne?”

Joanne smiled very widely and her eyes lit up as well, “I love the way that sounds; that should be on my business card instead of Shaman.”

Hank’s eyebrows went up and Boris nodded his head in approval.

“Joanne, you’re a Shaman? No wonder patients tell me you heal them in other ways besides the medical ways! That’s wonderful!” Hank exclaimed.

Boris put his palms together in front of him and bowed his forehead to his hands, “Namaste, Joanne,” he lifted his head and looked at her, “Thank you for sharing your calm with me, apparently I was in great need.”

“You’re welcome, Boris. Yes, you were almost more in need than Hank was during that time. I am pleased that I was able to help you in some small way,” Joanne said with serenity.

After a few moments, Hank, who was very eager to show Joanne the infirmary, then said, “I see we are finished with lunch, can we show you our Shadow Pond Infirmary?”

“Yes, I would like to see that very much,” Joanne replied and Boris rose from his chair to assist Joanne from her chair. They looked at each with understanding.

Boris then went and got Hank’s wheelchair and helped him into it. Joanne watched the way that they touched each other and smiled.

As they moved from the dining room to the infirmary, Hank explained all about how it came to be. He explained that he took care of Shadow Pond-only staff three days a week and if any testing was needed it was done at Hamptons Heritage. Joanne marveled at the new equipment and casually said that it must be very nice to work in that setting.

“Speaking of which,” Hank said, “Since I am out of commission right now, and would still like to take care of our staff, I was wondering if you would like to consider coming to work for us part-time here.”

Boris nodded his head in agreement and smiled slightly.

“We can adjust the infirmary’s operating hours temporarily to fit better with your current work schedule and when I am back to 100%, we can talk more about any adjustments at that time,” Hank stated, “We would make it worth your while and also respect your work-life balance because we know that you already work full time at Hamptons Heritage.”

“This is amazing,” Joanne said with a smile, “I actually work double shifts at Hamptons Heritage all the time; if I could cut back to just one shift and then work here part-time, I would actually gain some of my own personal time back.”

Boris and Hank both looked at Joanne with friendly, hopeful expressions; she looked back at them with relief.

“I’m your nurse!” Joanne exclaimed.

Hank and Joanne began to talk some further details as the three of them left the infirmary. 

Boris simply pushed Hank’s wheelchair and had a pleased look on his face. As they re-entered the dining room, Boris asked Joanne if she wanted to join them for coffee, which she declined, but would take a rain check. 

She explained, “This is my only day off this week and I have lots of errands to run as well as laundry to do.”

They escorted Joanne to the foyer, out the front door, and said their goodbyes; they agreed that over the next week, she would adjust her schedule at the hospital and start work at Shadow Pond. Boris told her that their assistant, Udo, would be contacting her for the employment aspect. Boris and Hank saw her to her car; Boris opened the door for her and once again put his hands in prayer position and said gently, “Namaste.” Joanne returned the greeting.

 

Later that night, Boris said to Hank, as they were comfortably tucked into bed, “Did you know, Hank, that the word ‘shaman’ most likely originated from the Manchu-Tungus languages which are located in Siberia? The word is very roughly translated to mean ‘holder of knowledge’?”

“No, I didn’t know that, Boris. Will you ever stop amazing me?” Hank asked with a smile. 

“Not as far as you know…” Boris replied quietly.


	10. Refinement, Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris and Hank now try to remove “impurities or unwanted elements” from a life worth living.

Boris’ blood test results had come back from Hamptons Heritage and there was good news; nothing in the way of a chemical imbalance showed up and the rest of his levels all still showed normal. This information clearly eliminated one major possibility for Boris’ anxiety issue. Instead, it was something deeply rooted in Boris’ psyche that would just continue to require careful personal management.

This meant that what Hank was doing for Boris: whether it was that Hank made certain Boris had nights of un-medicated and naturally sound sleep, regular physical exercise, the daily intake of the thyroid medication and supplements, less work stress/work load, and managing his eating (however light) of nutritious food, coupled with Hank’s managing of the psychological/physical ways that they confronted the attacks was really all that they both could do. Hank took the lead and Boris allowed him to do so. Hank was surprised at times that Boris readily agreed to allow Hank be in charge like this, it was almost as if Boris was too depleted to fight himself (or Hank) any longer. It wasn’t perfect, because the attacks didn’t go away completely, but it was better, much better than before.

 

A week later, Boris received a message from the von Jurgens faction. It was a handwritten letter in a formal style of German on fine, linen stationery paper with the von Jurgens-specific family crest (which included a platinum-toned, plumed medieval helmet) imbedded into the paper in the upper center. It was delivered by a bonded courier one afternoon towards the end of their lunch. This in of itself was quite formal and after he read the letter, Boris, with a tilt of his head, quietly said to Hank, “Huh. I believe that we have just received a type of peace treaty from the von Jurgens.” 

“I didn’t know that we were at war,” Hank admitted.

“Neither did I, so to speak,” Boris replied.

The letter was written in a ceremonial tone and was quite solemn. He recognized the handwriting of his Uncle Stephan, “See here, Hank? Uncle Stephan always flourished rather elegantly especially with the letter ‘y’,” Boris said as he pointed to writing on the paper. 

The von Jurgens had decided to ‘cease to resist the change’ that Boris had brought upon the family ancestry. They also expressed their abhorrence regarding the attack on Hank, as they considered it to be ‘crass and uncivilized’ and politely offered well wishes for his quick recovery. As members of the peaceful aspect of world society, they were relieved that the lethal attempt by the assailant did not come to fruition. The family admitted to their underestimating the finality of the choice that Boris had made by taking Hank as his ‘partner/husband’, as well as the now apparent and serious ‘criminally-laced actions’ taken by the Kuester clan. They also stated: ‘We are aware of their public reprimand.’

Boris continued to translate and said, “…it was never our intent to harm you (or anyone), we wished only to be patient and remained watchful as to how the situation unfolded. You have always been somewhat of a rebel (Boris) and we lacked in the true understanding of your state of affairs. If you wish to undo decades, nay, generations, of family heritage, then that is your choice.” 

“So, are they apologizing for being involved or knowing about the plan or what? Are they accepting your decisions? I don’t like that they are calling you a rebel; and I especially don’t appreciate that last sentence,” Hank stated as he began to get angry at their implied tone.

Boris looked at Hank, blinked and tightened his expression. He had always been under so much pressure to live up to the family heritage, and with this letter, he felt that he was being dragged back in time and now being scolded by the family for his actions. Boris had also not yet been able to find out, through his contact, if the von Jurgens knew of the original plan by Andres or whether they joined the Kuesters and sanctioned the attack. It was all so complicated. Over the generations, there had been estranged relations between the two factions and communications had never been clear. Boris had always thought that the two sides enjoyed the family hostilities more than using their energies to attempt and repair them.

 

~~~

 

The re-visiting of family business stirred up a minor anxiety attack in Boris; Hank saw an unsettling begin in Boris the evening of when they received the letter, but nothing came of it, so Hank decided not to worry. Boris was fine when he fell asleep but when he awoke, his mind let loose and he began to struggle. 

They had just awakened and were not ready to start their day as yet so they were still lying in bed together. Hank cradled Boris and they spoke softly planning their day, but then Hank noticed that Boris had become very quiet, had begun to tremble and was hyperventilating. 

Hank noticed now that the attacks came only after a family-related issue – no matter how slight. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t see it before and he was really annoyed with himself; as a doctor, he felt that he should have seen this correlation. Hank now knew that when the family got in the way of Boris’ new life with Hank (and that new life had become all encompassing to Boris and the only thing he truly wanted), it made sense why Boris would have these episodes. 

Hank marveled at the way Boris could handle multiple businesses and all of the challenges associated with them. The work that was brought on by that, whether it was managing large sums of money or making choices that would benefit and not harm the businesses and everyone attached to them didn’t faze Boris at all. Attacks never occurred after large business deals or decisions; it was always about family that seemed to trigger the anxiety. Hank could only surmise just how stressful Boris’ life had been when he was a child, a teenager, a young adult or even a Boris of perhaps only twenty years ago. Hank was bound and determined to help Boris ‘dig out’ and confront the trauma seated deeply in his mind; Hank wanted to help Boris release the anguish once and for all; Hank knew this could be a challenge and if he didn’t manage it properly, Boris’ physical health could take a backward slide and put him into the hospital. ’Not while I am Boris’ doctor,’ Hank thought to himself.

During the attack, Hank held Boris as tightly as he could; Hank spoke softly, but with a firm tone, in Boris’ ear, and spoke words of love and other positive things. Hank rubbed the skin on Boris’ arms, and made him look at and describe the decorative pattern on the fireplace stonework, all to help refocus Boris’ mind out of his mind and anchor it in the present physical moment. Slowly, Boris calmed.

After a few moments, Hank asked, “Boris, I need to know something, as your doctor right now. Can I ask you some questions?”

There was a long pause, “Ja, I am fine; I do not believe that your questions will trigger anything, it has passed; only my head aches now,” Boris admitted.

“Have you had anxiety attacks before you and I came together?” Hank asked. 

“Yes,” Boris replied honestly. 

“What did you do, I mean, did you have someone with you or did you have medical attention?” Hank asked.

“No, I have always been alone,” Boris said quietly.

“How did you…get through them?” Hank asked with some hesitation.

“The very bad times came infrequently. I stayed in this bedroom apartment and waited for the attacks to pass. I tried to take medicine to help me sleep, but that only made things worse – violent nightmares you know,” Boris stated.

“Was Udo able to help you?” Hank asked. Hank wondered just what Boris meant by ‘infrequently’ and had a feeling that Boris was down-playing the intensity and/or the numbers of times he experienced the attacks.

“He did what he could, he brought me food and water, but I was difficult to care for. And do not ask Udo about those times, he will never divulge anything. Udo is loyal to a fault,” Embarrassed, Boris then admitted that he would lie on his bed for long portions of many days in the dark, and just wait for the terrors to pass, “I made him promise that he would not call for medical assistance.”

“Why didn’t you let him, or others, help you?” Hank asked incredulously and was now quite annoyed with Boris. 

“Because there were times when I did not want help and felt that if I should simply expire from the intensity of the anxiety, then it was meant to be; or there were times when I felt that I could cause harm to others and I did not want to do that. I did not want to give in to the violence I felt. I have always been very strong physically and because I have learned many things over the years, I am capable of inflicting considerable damage, even without a weapon. Either way, I felt that I needed to be alone and work through it myself. I am not very good at sharing, as you know; there is always too much to explain,” Boris sighed, suddenly feeling very drained, “It gets very complicated up here,” as he forcefully pushed his finger into his forehead three times, “…sometimes, ja.”

“Well, listen to me Boris,” Hank shifted somewhat aside to be able to look at Boris directly, intense blue eyes held the gaze of haunted steel grey/blue eyes. Hank took Boris’ hand away from his forehead gently. Hank spoke slowly, but with a manner that Boris would not misinterpret as anything but specific instruction tinged with command, “We…you and I…are going to closely manage this together from now on. You will not be alone ever again. I am here as your husband and your doctor and we’re going to work towards eliminating these terrors. I don’t want you to suffer any longer. You’re going to learn how to explain it to me,” Hank now tapped his finger, but gently, on Boris’ forehead, “no matter how complicated it is up there. Your suffering ends on my watch, do you understand? Whatever we will need to do, we will do it together. When these happen now, we are going to do deep breathing and work to re-engage your thinking brain with verbal reasoning and have you do tasks that require more of your complex motor and executive cognitive skills. And, you will also not harm me because I won’t let you. Do you want to know how I know this?” Hank asked sternly. 

Boris nodded his head; his expression was attentive but guarded.

“I know where your nerve endings are and with the right touch on your body, I could probably drop you to the floor in an instant. Yeah, I know some ‘things’, too,” Hank paused letting that sink in, “So, don’t be afraid that you’ll hurt me. We’re going to get through this because I need MY strong Boris by MY side always. Okay?”

Boris looked at Hank with a mixture of love and awe, and then he felt a pressure behind his eyes which made him blink quickly. Boris put his head on Hank’s chest and took a deep breath.

Hank held Boris firmly and stroked his hair.

 

~~~

 

They interviewed both artists; one came in person to Shadow Pond as he lived in New York and drove down to the Hamptons for the day and the other one via teleconference as he was just finishing a commission and was still in Milan. The clear winner was Artist Cameron from New York, a 30-ish man with green eyes who always dressed in black, had a calm nature, spoke quietly, and a watchful expression was ever-present on his long-bearded face. Both Boris and Hank felt the connection to Cameron and were very satisfied that he could capture their energy properly. Boris had seen his work before and explained to Hank that Cameron’s style of realism was that similar to Michelangelo and DaVinci. 

Boris explained with a degree of awe, “His portraits force you to lock eyes with the subject that is being viewed on the canvas as you are being viewed by a very real person looking back at you.”

Hank replied, “Okay, just as long as he doesn’t make us look scary.”

The commission was negotiated and was quite generous; Cameron agreed to be their artist-in-residence for the duration of the project and believed that he could complete the work within two weeks as long as there were daily sittings of at least 2 hours each. Cameron had also passed the background check which unnerved the artist quite a bit, (Cameron didn’t have anything to hide, he was simply an extremely private person) but when Hank spoke with Cameron at length, Cameron felt better about it. 

“What did you say to him, Hank? I thought surely that he would back out simply because of the background check,” Boris asked with concern over coffee one afternoon.

“I was just friendly and explained some of the issues, in general, that we had recently been up against. I believe that a little transparency goes a long way sometimes. He agreed that it made perfect sense once I had explained it to him and thanked me for my honesty. He was very sad that we had experienced that trauma. Cameron said that he also understands us better now because when he first met us here at Shadow Pond, he had many preconceived notions – especially because we live in the Hamptons. But after we talked, he said that ‘his hand was now eager to capture our true nature on the canvas’. Cameron appreciates that you and I have a unique relationship and sensed that it was stronger than what most people have; and then agreed to be our artist,” Hank explained with a growing smile on his face.

Boris tilted his head slightly and grinned, “This is what you did, Hank, you charmed him into accepting the commission.”

“Well, not as far as you know,” Hank replied with a smug look on his face and a wide grin.

 

~~~

 

A few days later, Cameron was moved into a guest apartment in Shadow Pond and he was assigned a Personal Assistant from the Shadow Pond staff to be at his beck and call. Boris didn’t want Cameron to want for anything because he believed that if the artist was completely comfortable, and had everything he needed, then he would produce his best work.

One of Khalil’s team was also assigned to Cameron as the artist asked to be able to take walks in and around the Shadow Pond property to gain as much insight into Boris and Hank-the couple, as he could. Never having lost that private side to his nature, Boris was at first sensitive and hesitant to this, but understood and confided to Hank one evening that it might be good for him to ‘loosen up a bit’. Boris did instruct that certain areas of the house were strictly off limits to Cameron’s wanderings: their bedroom apartment, the Meditation Terrace, and the Library. Boris wasn’t about to loosen up that much and let someone into their most inner sanctums

The artist wasn’t certain that he liked being shadowed by a security guard, but when Cameron admitted this to Hank, Hank turned on the charm and all was well.

Cameron decided that the Formal Living Room was the most appropriate room in the house for the temporary studio as he felt that the light was best there. He, the assistant, and three housekeepers rearranged a corner of the vast room near the fireplace and all of the art supplies were delivered and set up. Cameron explained that he wanted the fireplace in the background to depict a sense of their magnificent home, but it would be shaded rather dark because he wanted the two of them, in their light colored suits to stand out in contrast. 

Hank asked if he would be able to paint in the red lotus buds in their lapels; he showed Cameron a photo that Divya had taken the afternoon of their wedding brunch and Cameron said that would not be a problem. Boris offered to have fresh lotus buds flown in every few days, if necessary. The photo was printed and was set on a separate easel next to the enormous five foot by seven foot canvas which was set on a giant easel so that Cameron could refer to it whenever he needed to. The photo also showed how happy Boris and Hank were on their wedding day and Cameron took additional inspiration from that.

Boris offered an invitation to Cameron to join them for dinner every night, if he chose to do so. Cameron accepted but would only join them every three days. His preference was to dine alone in the guest apartment, and as the artist was also a polite man, he felt that to dine with both of them every night would be invasive.

On the first afternoon sitting, as Boris and Hank settled into the pose they wanted for their portrait, Cameron asked them to explain why they chose to pose the way they did. 

Boris wanted to explain, but found suddenly that he could not; he excused himself and took Hank aside to talk with him.

“I apologize, Hank, would you please describe this to Cameron?” Boris said with some distress in his voice and on his face.

Hank was concerned for Boris and looked up at him with confidence, “Are you ok?” Hank took Boris’ hand, not caring whether Cameron saw this or not, nor caring if Boris was embarrassed by it (or not), and found that Boris’ hand was shaking slightly.

“I, eh, am rather…sentimental…about this for some reason,” Boris admitted, blinked quickly, sighed and looked away to a random spot on the fireplace, “I…do not know what has come over me.”

“Don’t worry, Boris, look at me, and breathe,” Hank said gently and yet firmly at the same time, “Come on, look at me, please.”

Boris did so and looked at Hank almost pleadingly. 

“Keep breathing, Boris, from your diaphragm,” Hank instructed, “I know why you feel this way. The pose is from our earliest time together when you were first recovering from your exhaustion and everything else, and so of course, this is extra special to us,” Hank rubbed Boris’ hand, “I will tell Cameron, its okay. That amazing brain of yours is remembering all of the details from that time,” he paused, “Now I want you to think about the night of the dinner, the concert, proposing, and champagne in New York.”

Hank let this sink in and he smiled at Boris hoping this would bring Boris comfort. Hank could see Boris’ mind working on these images and soon the near-frantic look in Boris’ grey/blue eyes started to subside. Boris hand stopped shaking as well.

Boris nodded his head, smiled slightly at Hank and said quietly, “Thank you, my beloved One. I think I shall be better now.”

Hank smiled his most charming smile and held Boris’ upper arm for a moment with his other hand. Hank nodded and said, “Let’s do this.”

As they returned to the seating area, Boris said, regaining his pride, “My sincerest apologies, Cameron, for the interruption; I was in need of Hank’s guidance for a moment.”

Cameron looked at the two of them with a compassionate expression on his face and nodded. He had seen their interaction, but did not hear their conversation. Cameron learned a great deal about Boris and Hank in just those few moments and felt a rush of inspiration build inside of him. 

“To answer your question, Cameron,” Hank began, “There was a moment, at the very beginning of our relationship that this pose is from.”

Both of them faced forward, Boris sat proudly with his cane in his left hand, its base on the floor, the cane just outside of his left leg. Boris’ right hand was on his right knee. Hank stood tall and on Boris’ right side and just slightly behind his right shoulder, both of Hank’s hands are resting on both of Boris’ shoulders right for right, left for left. They looked at Cameron with expectant expressions. Hank squeezed Boris’ shoulders slightly to show him everything was just fine. 

Cameron studied them for a moment, and said, “Perfect. Now, what do you want me to capture most about the two of you?” 

Boris said, his regal nature returning to him, “Our eyes, our rings, our connection, and…”

Hank finished Boris’ sentence enthusiastically, “…looking confidently towards our future together!”

Cameron smiled at both of them and began to paint…

 

They did not have dinner with Cameron that evening; Boris and Hank talked about what an amazing experience this had become for them. 

Then Boris sincerely said, “Thank you again, Hank, for your help. How do you feel standing for such a long period of time? I believe that two hours is the most amount of time that you have stood up.”

“You’re welcome, and I’m okay. If you noticed, I was leaning against you quite a bit towards the end,” Hank admitted.

“Ja, I did notice that and your leaning actually helped me, too,” Boris said.

“It’s good for me to push myself a little bit each day, that will help me get stronger,” Hank said, but he felt tired, “Do you think we could call it an early night tonight?”

 

Boris waited until they had settled in their bed together. He said, “I love you, Hank,” as he looked down into Hank’s eyes. 

“I love you back,” Hank replied affectionately.

Hank’s head was on the pillow with Boris’ head propped up above him on his left side. Boris leaned down and said, “I would like to give you something, my beloved One.” 

Boris’ lips then touched Hank’s ear gently. Boris said quietly in his deep voice, “May I pleasure you, Hank? I promise I will not hurt you. Simply lie here and enjoy this…”

Hank began to say something, but then only moaned as Boris touched him; Hank had no choice, nor did he want to say no to Boris. Hank’s heart began to beat faster as Boris’ hands, those long elegant hands, roamed Hank’s body in all of the right places. Hank quickly felt euphoria under Boris’ skilled motions and he felt only a slight tug from the area where he had been stabbed, but there was no pain, as Boris had promised.

Hank closed his eyes; his breathing came faster, he felt he would lose himself in a moment and then the sensation subsided slightly only lasting a few breaths in and a few breaths out; then again the intensity began and then subsided. Once more this happened and by this third time, Hank had lost all sense of time and space. Boris gauged Hank’s waves of pleasure and controlled their timing with his knowledgeable hands on Hank’s body so that Hank would have the ultimate of sensations.

Boris whispered into Hank’s ear, “Savor this now,” as the motions made Hank cry out, his body shuddered. Boris held Hank’s lower body firmly against the bed so that the injury site was not stressed, nor did it produce any pain which would have interrupted Hank’s ecstasy. As Hank began to relax, so too did Boris’ firm hold on Hank’s body. 

Hank drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

Boris settled himself so that he could easily cradle Hank gently in a way that Hank’s head was on Boris’ chest at his heart; Boris’ arms and legs cocooned him gently. He wanted Hank to hear his heartbeat on some level, even though Hank was asleep, and for Hank to take comfort in the sound. Boris thought about the day and chided himself for being so weak during the portrait sitting; but then, in the next moment, feeling Hank lying against him, Boris felt happy and simply at peace for the first time in a long time. 

Hank sighed deeply. Boris smiled and thought of the melody he knew from Franz Schubert’s ‘Serenade’, but refrained from humming it as he didn’t want to wake Hank. Boris allowed the melodious tune to wander through his mind.

A little while passed and Hank stirred. Boris had remained awake as he took delight in the silence of their room, the warmth of their bed, and the steady motion of their breathing. Hank murmured and Boris moved his head to look at his sleeping husband.

Very soon after that, Boris allowed himself to fall asleep. Boris dreamt that he was standing still and naked, in the middle of a large empty room, covered in paint from head to foot.

 

~~~

 

Hank looked as his watch and told Nurse Joanne, “That’s it for me today, can you finish up here? I’ve got to get to the West Sitting Room before Boris does and it takes me longer to walk there nowadays. He’s up in his office, but with those long legs of his, he can cover a lot of ground quickly when he wants to, and he doesn’t even run!”

Joanne replied, “Sure, do you want me to wheel you over there? We can play ‘Speed Racer’! I don’t want to be nosy, but what’s the rush?”

“I need to tell the barber something before Boris comes down,” Hank replied as he started to leave, “No, thanks anyway, I want to walk and if I can speed my pace up a bit - that will be good for me.”

“Well, don’t pop any stitches!” Joanne called out as Hank left the infirmary.

 

Hank made it to the West Sitting Room in record time, but he was winded somewhat and had to lean against a table to catch his breath. Still recuperating from the attack, Hank tried every day to push himself physically a little bit more than the previous day. Hank was bored at having to be so sedentary, but knew he was on the mend.

Udo entered the room with Gio, the Master Barber. It was the scheduled time for Boris and Hank to each get their hair cut. Gio had been Boris’ personal Barber for many years and Hank was thrilled that he now didn’t have to go to ‘SuperCuts’ in town any longer.

They exchanged friendly greetings and Udo started to walk over to the side table across the room, when Hank said, “No, wait Udo, I need your opinion on something.”

Hank said to Gio, and included Udo in the conversation, waving his hand to motion the two to come closer to him, “Gio, no matter what Boris asks for DO…NOT…EVER cut his hair short, okay? I’m putting my foot down on this one now.” 

Gio exclaimed with much animation, as that was Gio’s nature, “Agreed, Dr. Hank! I like it long on him as well; it is more flattering to his face, those sculpted cheekbones, and his height. But he argues with me, you know this! I can only put him off for so long, eventually he will grow angry with me for not doing what he asks. We do not want him angry, no! Dr. Hank, I can see that you are someone who understands that I am only trying to make him look even more handsome than he already is!” 

Hank smiled widely, nodded in agreement and then asked Udo, “So, what do you think?” 

Bolstered by Hank’s and Gio’s enthusiastic determination, Udo said quietly, “I agree with both of you.” Udo had always admired anyone with thick long hair, as he himself did not have that.

Hank then told them a secret, “I always grow my beard out in the wintertime and Boris hasn’t seen that yet. I wonder how he will react!”

Gio said, “Dr. Hank, you would look striking with a beard, and I can trim it properly for you.” 

They all nodded in agreement with each other; Gio began to set his tools up as Udo arranged the chair; Hank sat down and he was actually quite grateful now for the chair. The quick walk over from the infirmary was probably too much for him today. Hank told himself to take a half of a pain pill soon. Hank asked Udo to stay in the room (which he was going to do anyway) as Hank knew he was going to need both Gio and Udo as support.

Gio was busy trimming Hank’s hair, just as Boris entered the room.

“Ciao, Gio, come va! Che piacere vederti!” Boris said loudly in Italian and was greeted equally as loudly by Gio.

Udo bowed to Boris and smiled, which Boris acknowledged with a nod and a hand on Udo’s shoulder.

Hank said, “Haha! I got in the chair first!”

Many pleasantries were exchanged between Boris, Hank, and Gio. Udo prepared them all coffees.

Gio was fairly quick with Hank’s hair; and Hank thanked him, got up and went to stand near Gio; Udo had also moved into position.

Boris seated himself in the chair, looked down, and didn’t notice that they gathered together.

“Let us go quite a bit shorter this time ‘round, Gio, ja?” Boris said innocently as he adjusted his jacket.

“NO!” exclaimed Hank, Gio, and Udo all at the same time. They were standing nearly shoulder-to-shoulder and presented a united front against Boris.

Boris looked up quickly but blinked slowly and looked at each one of them, “What is this all about?” he asked warily. 

“Boris, I like your hair long. Gio likes your hair long. Even Udo likes your hair long. Please keep it long!” Hank pleaded with Boris and used his most charming smile on his husband hoping to sway him.

Boris couldn’t help but to smile back as he continued to look from one man to the other; he was completely amused by this show of ‘hair solidarity’ (as Boris referred to it later), and then chuckled deeply. Boris raised his hands in capitulation and exclaimed, “I give up! You win...all of you! Gio, then just a SHORT trim today. Udo, please bring me my espressos.” 

All three men were grateful and Hank then went and sat down on one of the couches to watch as Boris get his hair trimmed. Boris looked at Hank with an expression asking, ‘Are you all right?’ Boris had noticed something on Hank’s face that showed he was in slight pain.

Hank nodded his head and smiled widely.

Gio finished with Boris’ hair trimming and pronounced it perfect. Gio was pleased; Hank was pleased; Udo was relieved; Boris was amused.

 

Much later, in privacy of their apartment as they got ready for bed that night, Hank said to Boris, “I’ll brush your hair every day if you keep it long like this.” 

Boris sat on the bench in front of the triple mirror as Hank stood behind him and brushed Boris’ hair. Hank had insisted on doing this for Boris that night and Boris accused Hank of being the ‘overly sentimental one this evening’.

“We have to take turns at that you know - you can’t have all the fun!” Hank defended.

Boris replied, “Whilst I appreciate the personal grooming care you are offering me, my beloved One, I believe your time is better spent doing other, well, more interesting things to me…of course, when you are completely healed…” Boris leaned back to touch the front of Hank’s body with his back.

 

~~~

 

One of the activities which Hank found to help his healing process was to go swimming. It was not as hard on his body as was running. 

He did try to run one morning, apparently too soon into his recovery, and that turned out to be a very bad idea. Hank collapsed with abdominal cramps in the middle of the formal gardens, and because Khalil’s team had been watching him on the surveillance cameras (as directed by Boris) they were able to get a squad out quickly to assist him back to the house. 

Four security men brought Hank into the Pool Room, where Boris was swimming at the time, and laid Hank on one of the lounge chairs. Boris literally leapt out of the pool to be at Hank’s side in an instant, dripping wet, kneeling on the marble floor next to Hank and held his hand. 

“What do you need, Hank?” Boris asked full of concern.

In between breaths, clutching his abdomen, Hank said, “…just some water, please, right now…”

Udo was already there with water and handed the glass to Boris as he assisted Hank to drink. Udo placed Boris’ purple velvet robe across his shoulders as Udo didn’t want Boris to catch a chill. Udo suddenly had a disturbing vision of both of them needing medical attention at the same time and he shuddered slightly, which he hid by busying himself with towels.

“Udo, please go to our apartment and get his pain medication; it is on the counter in the bath room next to the sink on the right side,” Boris asked as he looked up at Udo.

Udo nodded and left quickly.

Boris looked over and said, “Thank you, gentlemen, that will be all for now.” The security squad left; although two of them remained at the far end of the Pool Room, in case they were needed.

Boris looked at Hank with deep concern, “Do you wish to lie down flat? Perhaps that would help you to feel better?”

Hank’s eyes were closed and he was concentrating on his breathing; he held up his hand in a gesture of asking for a moment. Hank took a deep breath and said, “No, it’s okay, I’m just going to stay this way for a little while,” He looked up at Boris and smiled slightly, “So, a lesson I learned today is that I can’t go running just yet. Damn!”

Boris still held onto Hank’s hand; he actually gripped it rather firmly and Hank had to ask him to ease up a bit, “Gees, you are strong.”

“How do you feel now?” Boris asked as he released Hank’s hand, stood up, put his robe on and tied the belt at his waist.

“A little better, the spasms are subsiding. When Udo gets back with the medication, I only want a half dose,” Hank said with a charming smile, “And have I ever told you how great you look in a bathing suit?”

Boris grinned, shook his head slightly, water dripping down from his hair, and sat down on the lounge chair which was next to the one Hank was lying on, “Ja, I believe you tell me that every time you see me wearing it.” Boris reached for a towel and began to dry his face.

Udo returned with the medicine and he handed it to Boris. Inside the bottle, there were full pills and half pills. Boris made sure his hands were dry and poured out one half pill as Udo refilled the glass of water, which he handed to Boris and then stepped away to give them privacy.

After Hank took the pill, he closed his eyes and continued to breathe deeply. 

Boris took the glass from Hank, put it on the side table and then watched his husband relax; Boris found that he felt a growing sadness at the moment, so he slowly rubbed his fingers on a portion of his velvet robe on his sleeve. Hank had told Boris that whenever he began to now feel even the slightest bit unsettled, Boris needed to seek out some tactile feeling to bring him into the physical present and away from his mind. The velvet fabric was doing a good job of keeping Boris present.

About twenty minutes passed and Hank opened his eyes to see Boris watching him. They smiled at each other.

“Much better now,” Hank exhaled and then said, “Whew! I apologize, Boris, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was feeling really good this morning!” Hank noticed Boris’ fingers moving on the fabric of the robe and smiled wider.

“What can I get for you?” Boris asked.

“Nothing, I am happy to just rest here right now, you can go back to swimming, if you’d like to,” Hank said innocently.

Boris looked at Hank warily, “You are only saying that because you want to see me only in my swimsuit once again, ja?”

 

~~~

 

The portrait was now complete, as promised by Cameron, in the two week time which had been agreed upon. Boris and Hank dutifully made time each day to sit for the portrait and Cameron told them it was perfect, but would not show it to them until it was framed. Cameron’s face lit up that evening, as he joined them for dinner, when he described the painting to them. He had clearly enjoyed the project, and was grateful to them for the opportunity to capture them on canvas and greatly appreciated their trust.

He had arranged for a professional picture framer to come the next day and create a custom frame for the painting. A special area in the garage of Shadow Pond was set aside for this work and because Boris and Hank trusted Cameron with the complete project, he had chosen the frame style and its finish at the beginning, and it was now ready to be fitted to the canvas.

The next day, and very early in the morning, the framer arrived and he and Cameron worked together to finalize the artwork for presentation and installation. Boris appreciated the efficiency in which Cameron worked and mentioned to Hank in private that he felt they should give Cameron a bonus. Hank agreed and laughingly said that he didn’t know where the checkbook was anyway, so anything that Boris wanted to do was fine with him. Then, Hank asked, “Or are you going to pay him with a bar of gold?”

Boris and Hank had just finished their afternoon coffee service, when Udo came into the Parlor Dining Room to announce that Cameron had requested their presence in the Main Living Room. They quickly rose from the seating area and followed Udo. As they entered the room, the portrait, now in its frame, was back again propped up at the giant easel, but this time, a large white sheet covered it.

Cameron stood beside the easel very tall and very proud, as he said, “Gentlemen, it has been a distinct honor to be your artist and I hope that what you will see before you will please you in all ways possible.”

Boris and Hank stood shoulder to shoulder about six feet in front of the covered portrait; they were both very excited, but showed it in their own ways: Boris stood even taller, chin up in his royal fashion, that slight grin which was his usual pleased expression and with his arms crossed in front of his chest; Hank also stood taller, had a very wide smile on his face, his eyes flashed brightly and since he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his hands he put them in the pockets of his jeans.

The oil paint was still technically drying and would continue to do so for the remainder of the week; Cameron had also used a fair amount of titanium paint for their white clothing and that would take even longer to dry. There were a few areas on the painting that were thicker than other areas and those would take more time to dry as well. Cameron reminded them that it would be six months to a year before the painting could be varnished and so he would need to return to Shadow Pond to actually finish the project at that time.

With Cameron on one side and Udo on the other, they carefully (so as not to mar the image) slid the white sheet away from and down off of the painting and onto the floor. 

Both Boris and Hank took a sharp intake of breath when they saw their images on the canvas and their eyes grew very wide. Boris raised one hand and started to smooth his circle beard; Hank’s hands came out of his pockets and went forward as if he was going to catch a ball. It was very quiet in the large room as they took in what was before them. They looked at each other and smiled.

Looking back at Cameron, Boris said, “Glorious work, Maestro.”

Also looking back at Cameron, Hank said, “Wow!”

Cameron had stayed true to his style of realism; the images of Boris and Hank were accurate, very detailed and somehow he had captured their spirit and infused that into their postures giving an impression that the image of Boris would (at any moment) stand up and that both he and Hank would simply walk right out off the canvas and into the room. The eyes and facial expressions showed their intelligence, confidence and eagerness; and if you walked back and forth in front of the portrait, it would appear that Boris’ and Hank’s eyes were following you and almost waiting for you to say something to them. 

Cameron had included the rings on their fingers and the lotus buds in their lapels (as they had requested) and he painted the light angle coming at the images from a high left side; and somehow, the rings and the buds shone with a comforting glow. Nuances like that were throughout the entire portrait, but one would need to study the portrait closely in order to distinguish those individual illuminated aspects. If he had seen the portrait, Aristotle would have repeated himself and said, ‘The whole is more than the sum of its parts’.

After a few moments, Boris walked quickly over to Cameron to shake his hand with enthusiasm and fully smiling. Hank was right behind Boris and he took his turn shaking Cameron’s hand vigorously, smiling as well as he patted Cameron’s arm. They began to ask questions and Cameron described various parts of the work.

Udo had taken a few steps away from the portrait and was now admiring it on his own as Boris and Hank were busy congratulating Cameron. He suddenly remembered the time, so very long ago, when Boris had confided in Udo one afternoon about his interest in Hank; and then also remembered the seemingly endless time of Boris’ longing for Hank and how ill that time had made Boris. Udo thought about how Boris had been both joyful for his discovery and yet immensely saddened that his desire to have Hank as his life partner was unrequited. 

Then Udo recalled the thought of the moments when Hank was ministering to Boris and had also shared with Udo his utter confusion over his feelings for Boris. Udo remembered their conversation and Hank’s desperation to understand. Hank had held one hand high representing Boris and one hand separate and low representing himself asking Udo how can this be? Udo had replied, "...High. Low. Man. Woman… What does any of that matter when there is true affection?" Hank had then become unburdened of the confusion when Udo had guided Hank’s hands together.

Udo’s mind then thought about when he first heard Boris say the word ‘companion’ to Hank, Hank then saying the word ‘boyfriend’ to Boris and Boris nearly falling over; their joy of being together began that evening and now that Udo was seeing their strong, confident images on the canvas as if it was that they had always been together – which to Udo it should always have been; Udo took great comfort in that happy thought.

“What do think, Udo?” Boris asked.

“Magnificent, Sir, so real,” Udo replied tearing his eyes from the portrait to look up at Boris as he approached Udo.

Boris touched Udo’s arm and smiled at him, then turning to speak to Cameron and Hank, “I believe some champagne is in order to celebrate, ja? Cameron, would you care to join us?” Boris asked.

“Why yes, I would like that very much, thank you,” Cameron replied gratefully.

“Udo, would you be so kind as to ask our Sommelier Patrice to bring us some champagne and four glasses,” Boris directed.

“Four glasses, Sir?” Udo was confused.

“Yes, four glasses,” Boris looked at Hank, who nodded and smiled, and then back at Udo, “You have been with us since the beginning and you have seen us through a great deal. This captured moment on canvas has been helped along by you; I should like for you to share in the toast, ja?

Udo bowed his head and said solemnly, “Yes, of course, Sir, thank you.”

 

A very nice bottle of 2004 La Grande Dame Veuve Clicquot Brut was brought up from the wine cellar, opened and the glittering wine was poured into four crystal flutes. Each man held his glass up as Boris spoke, “To Cameron, and his sublime talent, thank you for capturing our true essence; and to Udo, for your unfailing dedication to both of us.”

“Cheers!” were said by all as one.

 

Now the question was: where should the portrait be installed at Shadow Pond? Boris had three locations in the house that he thought would be most appropriate; Hank admitted that he had no clue and was very happy to let Boris choose the place. 

(Hank apologized to Boris, in private later that night, for being so useless in this matter; Boris said that it wasn’t necessary for Hank to apologize, but Hank insisted. Boris then said that he would ‘take it out of Hank’s hide at some point in the near future’ and that he had best prepare for that. Hank told Boris that he wasn’t going to let Boris watch any more Westerns on TV.)

After enjoying the champagne, Boris, Hank, and Cameron, with Udo in tow, walked and studied the three places which Boris had thought about and based upon the lighting, space, and viewing presence it was decided that the foyer wall opposite the grand double staircases was the most fitting for such a marvelous work of art. 

Shadow Pond’s Chief Maintenance Technician, Gregor, was asked to come with his tools and install the portrait on the wall. Boris stood between the bases of the curving staircases, his right arm across his chest, his left arm up and his left hand smoothing his silver grey circle beard with a contemplative expression on his face. Hank was sitting on one of the lower steps of the left staircase watching with great interest. Udo was off to one side, quite out of the way as he usually tried to be and felt very proud to be a part of this momentous event.

Gregor brought along two other technicians as he felt that the artist should not try to help lift the artwork into place; Gregor was concerned for Cameron’s hands, he said, “They are best for holding a paintbrush and not a drill.”

Soon, the portrait was in its new home and everyone gathered around Boris to appreciate what had been done. Boris nodded his head and looked back at Hank who was still seated on the staircase. They smiled at each other; Hank nodded his head as well.

Boris and Hank thanked Gregor and his crew, as they gathered up their tools and ladders and left the foyer, leaving them alone with Cameron and Udo.

“Magnificent,” Boris said with pride, “Thank you again, Cameron. Will you be joining us for dinner this evening? You can certainly stay the night and head back to New York in the morning, ja?”

Cameron thought for a moment and said, “Yes, I would like that, Sir, if it would not be an imposition.”

“No, you would not be imposing at all, Cameron. Udo, will you please tell Chef Henri that we have one more for dinner this evening and that it should be an even more special dinner to celebrate our Artiste maître…and let us dine in the Main Dining Room as well,” Boris replied even as he was still admiring the portrait.

“Yes, Sir, please allow me to make preparations for all of you,” Udo replied and walked towards the hallway.

 

After a sumptuous and lively meal that evening, it was late before everyone left the dining room to retire. They said their goodnight to Cameron and sincerely thanked him again for his exquisite work. Boris and Hank made arrangements to have Udo take care of business side of the portrait project and they provided a generous bonus to Cameron as well. 

(And yes, a gold bar was involved.) 

Udo would be the one to see him off in the morning and also made an appointment with Cameron to return in six months to check on the status of the drying oil paint and to determine at that time whether the portrait could be sealed in varnish or if they would have to wait for a full year.

Cameron walked back to his guest apartment and marveled at the entire experience. He felt that he had given his best and to see the delight on the faces of his patrons was enough to carry him forward, emotionally, for many weeks. He had never been in that quite of an experience before, nor had he met as extraordinary of people as he had in Boris and Hank. 

 

As Boris and Hank walked back to their apartment, they walked through the foyer as they usually did (their apartment was on the opposite wing of the house from nearly everything else). They stopped for a few moments to admire the painting and since it was late and there was no one around, (except the surveillance cameras that ‘saw them and yet did not see them’) they embraced each other while they looked up at their likenesses.

“It’s like we’re looking at ourselves in a mirror,” Hank said with astonishment holding Boris close and enjoying his scent; sandalwood enveloped Hank whenever he was close to Boris.

“True, I feel the same way,” Boris replied, as he held Hank close, his cheek and his nose in Hank’s hair in a loving embrace, “It has been a long day, do you feel well, my beloved, One?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired, that dinner was amazing, I think I ate too much,” Hank said with a sigh.

Boris chuckled and Hank enjoyed the sound of it because he was so close to Boris at the moment.

“I miss you,” Hank said.

“Ja, I miss you. Soon, you are almost 100%,” Boris said quietly.

 

~~~

 

At breakfast, Boris said something very interesting, “Give me the keys to your car, Hank, we are going for a drive.” 

“What? You want to drive the SAAB?!” Hank said in complete surprise.

“Yes, I do; I feel that we need to get out of the house for a while and feel the wind in our hair. You have the only convertible automobile on our property,” Boris reminded. Boris nodded at Udo, who turned around and went to notify Khalil’s team to prepare an escort.

After breakfast, Hank’s SAAB was brought around to the front entrance and it was flanked by two of the security SUV’s, one in front and one behind, with teams ready at each one.

By this time, weeks into Hank’s recovery, Hank was moving about very well, almost ‘98%’ he would say, and he didn’t need the wheelchair, nor Boris’ arm, or various chairs or tables to hang onto any longer. Hank said that when he could start running again, he would be at ‘100%’ and that would be very soon now.

Boris still insisted on driving with Hank riding in the passenger seat that day. Everyone settled into the three vehicles; in the SAAB, the top went down, the sunglasses went on and all three vehicles drove down the long, tree-lined drive of Shadow Pond to the entrance gate and out beyond.

For a moment, some five miles down the road, Hank thought that Boris believed he was driving on the Autobahn, because Boris floored the gas pedal, passed the lead SUV and took off down the coastal highway. There was a great deal of wind in their hair and Boris looked quite pleased with himself. He looked over at Hank briefly with a big smile on his face. The security vehicles kept up and could have passed the SAAB, even at 75 mph, but didn’t as Boris had told them to give he and Hank some breathing room during the drive.

After about 45 minutes into the drive, Hank started to hear something unusual coming from the SAAB’s engine. He knew the car very well; he had had the car for years and the two of them had been many places together. He knew that the car was getting along in age with well over 175,000 miles on the odometer; in fact, the odometer had stopped working at 175,000 miles, so one could only guess what the mileage really was. Boris had it running at 83 miles per hour when the engine simply stopped functioning and he eased the car to coast to a stop along the side of the road. The security SUV’s were there in a moment, one in front and one in back once again. The teams quickly exited the escort cars and formed a perimeter around Hank’s now dead car.

Boris pulled the parking brake on, turned the key into the off position (even though the car was dead anyway) sighed deeply, turned in the driver’s seat, looked at Hank and said seriously, “Hank, I believe that I have broken your SAAB.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Boris, this car was old and had lots of mileage on it. We gave it one last good run,” Hank said simply, trying to make Boris feel better.

Daniel was in trailing SUV, and in charge of this outing; he walked over to where they were. Boris told him that the SAAB had expired and would need a tow truck. Daniel radioed Shadow Pond and they arranged for the retrieval. 

They got out of the car and started to take out everything that was in it: their jackets, Boris’ cane, Hank’s CD’s (“Oh, I’ve been looking for that CD!”) and they were helped by Misha who finished clearing out the car, put the top in place and locked the doors. Boris and Hank walked over to the trailing SUV and got into it.

Soon, the two SUV’s were back on the road, as they headed back to Shadow Pond, leaving the SAAB to await a tow truck.

Inside the SUV, Boris asked Hank, with a frown his face, “Hank, do you have a preferred automobile repair shop that you wish for your car to be taken to?”

“No, I think it’s time to give that car up, they can take it to junk yard. We had a good run. Really, Boris, don’t feel bad. It’s just a car and sometimes, you just have to move on,” Hank said cheerfully. 

“Did you enjoy the ride, at least?” Boris asked tentatively.

“Yeah, I did! You drive like a bat out of hell, and that was kinda fun!” Hank said laughing.

 

~~~

 

Three days later, Udo came in to announce to Hank, as he and Boris sat in the Library, “Your delivery has arrived, Sir.”

Looking up from his laptop, Hank asked, “What? I didn’t order anything, Udo.”

Boris was reading as usual, smiled slightly, but didn’t look up from his book.

“Please follow me, Sir, they shall require your signature,” Udo stated, turned and walked out the Library door.

“What’s this all about, Boris?” Hank asked with a worried curiosity as he rose from his chair.

Boris just shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, got up from his chair, set aside the book and reading glasses and followed Hank into and down the hallway; and he tried very hard not to smile.

Udo stood by the inside of the main entrance door of the house, which when you walked outside, you entered the expansive parking and driveway of Shadow Pond. He turned and held the door open for Hank, followed by Boris and as they walked outside, a transport flatbed had finished off-loading a late model Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster – a convertible – in the most stunning color of Ocellus Teal with a Sandstorm and Charcoal interior. 

The driver of the flatbed walked up to them, looked at both of them, nodded and asked, “Dr. Hank Lawson?”

Hank said nervously, “Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

“Congrats on your new car, Doctor, please sign here,” the man said pleasantly as he handed Hank a clipboard and a pen.

“But, I didn’t order the car,” Hank said very confused now, hesitantly taking the clipboard and pen.

“That is because I ordered the car for you, Hank, go ahead and sign for it. I believe the gentleman would like to give you your keys and driver’s packet,” Boris said with a grin on his face.

Hank’s mouth fell open, and in a daze he signed for the car, handed back the clipboard (he almost forgot to hand back the pen), and accepted the keys and packet from the driver.

“Happy driving!” the man said as he walked away, got into the flatbed and drove away.

Hank looked at Boris as Boris walked quickly towards the Roadster, Hank was somewhat rooted in his place. Boris said loudly and waved him to walk forward, “Come on, Hank, come take a look, ja?!”

Hank trotted up to Boris who was now at the car and admiring the interior.

“Boris? Why did you do this?” Hank said shyly.

“I felt poorly because I broke your SAAB, Hank. I know that you enjoy having a convertible automobile and this one seemed to be rather nice. They tell me it has 420 horsepower. I hope that you like it,” Boris said simply, he looked around and saw that no one was within earshot and said, “and…I did this because I love you.”

They looked at each with fondness and exchanged smiles.

“Uh, Boris, this is too much. I’m sure this is way too expensive…” Hank started to say but Boris interrupted him.

“You are worth it, and more, to me, Hank. I want to make you happy, and eh, replace things of yours which I break; it is just something that I do,” Boris said sincerely, “Would you like to go for a drive now? Eh, YOU drive, not me. Ja, I am a much better passenger.”

“Hell yeah, I would!” Hank exclaimed as he tossed the keys up in the air and caught them.

Boris waved to Udo, who came over to them quickly and was asked to scramble a security detail immediately as they were going for a drive.

“We have to wait a few moments for our escort to arrive; in the meanwhile take a look inside, Hank; this Caithness Leather is luxurious, is it not?” Boris said while caressing the seat back cushion with his hand. Boris was taking immense delight in watching Hank accept his new car. 

Hank smiled and touched nearly every surface as he sat in the driver’s seat, adjusted it to fit him, and held onto the steering wheel.

Boris would never tell Hank how much the car had cost, because to Boris, nothing was more valuable to him than his Hank and if a $123,000 automobile would bring that kind of a smile to Hank’s face, and that bright of a light to Hank’s eyes, then Boris would have purchased an entire warehouse full of them for Hank.

 

They say that fine vehicles purr like kittens, the Aston Martin was more of a tiger. They drove down the coastal highway, or should we say that they flew down the coastal highway…

Hank said to Boris as they rounded a curve, “This car is extravagant, Boris.”

“I am glad that you think so; I had hoped that it was be adequate for your needs,” Boris replied.

“You’re kidding, right, adequate? This is amazing! We are going to beach more often! Woohoo!” Hank shouted as he pressed the gas pedal down further...


	11. Raison d'etre, Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all need a reason (or reasons) for our existence, and there is no better of justification for our existence than that of love.

Boris and Hank were generally early risers. Hank enthusiastically came up with an idea one day for them to take an early morning drive in the new Vantage and have a picnic breakfast on ‘their beach’ (Hank’s words) at sunrise. What he didn’t realize was that it also meant that they had to make arrangements with Chef Henri (for the breakfast) and Khalil’s security team (for the escort). The moment he mentioned his idea to Boris was the moment Hank regretted it, because Boris never wanted Hank to be disappointed and thought it to be a “…marvelous and novel idea…” no matter who had to be involved with the event.

Hank still forgot, on occasion, what leaving Shadow Pond actually meant and how many people it actually involved beyond just the two of them.

Boris didn’t think it was a problem to rouse the kitchen and security staffs at four a.m. to prepare for this six a.m. sunrise activity. Hank grimaced at that thought and Boris tried to make him feel better. Boris said, “We do not do this every day, Hank. We can arrange for a cold breakfast with a thermos of hot coffee…I think we have a thermos ‘round here somewhere…” Boris knit his brows together, looking around in thought and thinking hard about the thermos. Boris continued, “We can give the staff two days of notice so that it will not be a surprise and they can plan accordingly. By doing this, we would certainly prevent a revolt.”

Hank looked at Boris in shock and said, “Would our staff really revolt against us?”

Boris replied, “I was making a joke, Hank. By your expression, I suppose that I have failed just now, ja?”

 

In the end, everything worked out just fine in spite of Hank’s worry. There was no Shadow Pond staff revolt and Chef Henri prepared an ‘amazing’ (Hank’s words) breakfast for them which included: lox flown in from Nova Scotia the day before, freshly baked-that-morning bagels and oregano-herbed whipped cream cheese, along with star fruit and strawberries, and of course two large thermoses of hot coffee, one for each of them. Udo brought a forty-year old oriental rug, large pillows to lean against, and a large beach umbrella so that Boris and Hank could lounge on the beach with ‘a good deal of style’ (Boris’ words). 

This beach trip, for a sunrise breakfast and a walk, was a perfect activity for Boris and Hank, it was something different and unique for them; it refreshed them after all that they had recently been through, and it fed their romantic hearts.

 

Hank was now fully healed and was more than ready to make love to Boris. It had been so long since they had been able to have intimacy with each other since the attack. The time that it took Hank to heal from that terrible experience, versus the passionate natures of both Boris and Hank, was far too long indeed. 

In the middle of the night, Hank awakened. Boris was soundly asleep on his back, and moonlight filtered in through the sheer curtains behind their bed as Hank admired Boris’ elegant profile. Hank reflected on their life together and felt truly happy; and he suddenly felt, too, that he would always be amazed at how this had all turned out. 

Should he or shouldn’t he wake Boris? Hank wanted Boris so badly at that moment; it felt like it had been forever since... 

Hank knew that he was healthy and strong enough now for their vigorous intense passion. He continued to debate with himself and struggled with what was right against what he personally wanted.

As Boris’ doctor, Hank never wanted anything to get in the way of Boris maintaining his health. Hank knew how fragile Boris could be (and in ways that Boris was not even aware of), although Boris would never admit to it. The doctor in Hank knew that Boris needed regular and deep sleep and Hank waking him during the night could be viewed as selfish. 

But Hank also knew that Boris needed love, support and to be cared for, as well as to be able to care for someone; ‘Someone like me,’ Hank thought. These affections had often in the past not been available to Boris or worse yet, had been even ripped away from Boris. Hank decided that the moment to love Boris was now – Hank wanted to show Boris how much he appreciated the weeks of Boris’ devoted attention and assistance during his healing. 

Boris had dedicated himself to Hank’s recovery and this was in spite of the internal struggles that raged within Boris. Hank knew that Boris always tried to push the pain away and tried to be strong for Hank whenever he needed him. Boris was successful sometimes at this and sometimes, not so much. Hank wondered if there were anxiety attacks which Boris hid from him and knew that Boris would never lose that private streak to his nature. It angered Hank somewhat that no one had ever taken the time, or was allowed close enough to help Boris; Hank couldn’t help but feel anger towards Boris with this train of thought – if only just a little bit - as part of the problem was Boris’ own doing. ‘My stubborn husband,’ Hank thought to himself.

Boris sighed, his broad chest rose and fell calmly; Boris murmured a deep sound, Hank smiled and wondered if Boris was dreaming. They were both in their sleeping clothes, but that wouldn’t deter Hank from what he wanted to do now. He decided to make undressing Boris a part of what he wanted to give Boris: a reason for extra touching, as if they ever needed a reason. 

Hank was desperate to feel Boris’ smooth skin and the soft silver hair on his chest. Hank smelled and relished Boris’ ever-present scent of sandalwood. Hank wanted to feel Boris’ long, powerful arms wrapped around him. Hank wanted to run his fingers through Boris’ hair and feel Boris’ lips on his own in urgent kisses. Hank began slowly, although his body wanted instant gratification. Hank respected Boris too much, more than anyone in the world. Hank would never take advantage of Boris in any way – ever – so he controlled his primal urge and made his body wait. Hank was hungry and it was not for food this time. 

Hank took a deep breath and moved slowly as he removed the sleep shirt and pants from his own body and dropped the clothing to the floor by his side of the bed. Hank took extra care to not wake Boris. Hank enjoyed the feel of the cool, smooth Egyptian cotton bed sheets against his now completely naked body. He wanted nothing in the way of his desires with Boris. Hank began to gently unbutton Boris’ silk pajama shirt starting at the top button and worked downward as he carefully opened the shirt as he went. Hank took delight in the feel of Boris’ ample chest hair all the way down to the last button; Hank then fully exposed Boris’ broad chest and flat abdomen. 

Suddenly, Boris’ right hand caught Hank’s left wrist in a swift vice grip, as Boris turned his head slowly on the pillow and looked at Hank, sleep leaving his face, a small smile formed on his lips, “Just what do you think you are doing, my beloved One?” Boris quietly asked Hank, his voice silky and deep. 

“I need you, Boris,” Hank replied, “I want you right now…please?” 

With those words, Boris now felt the same desire as his body strained against the pajama trouser’s fabric below his waist. “Are you certain you are well enough?” Boris asked with concern as he released Hank’s wrist. 

“Oh, yes, I am very well now; you’ve helped me to heal and I want to show you my gratitude,” Hank said. 

Boris sat up and removed the pajama shirt from his upper body, and dropped it onto the bedroom floor at his side of the bed. He turned slightly to look down at Hank and studied Hank’s face before he eased back down to the bed. Boris’ lean body was poised and strong and ready. 

Hank started to caress Boris’ chest and adjusted his position to lie beside and closer to Boris, as Boris wrapped his arms around Hank. They looked at each with expressions of trust as Hank moved his hand downward and under the waistband of Boris’ trousers to touch portions of Boris’ body currently hidden by clothing, this movement made Boris shudder slightly and sigh deeply with pleasure, his face buried in Hank’s neck; then Hank began to move that clothing lower and away. 

Boris closed his eyes and exhaled very slowly, his lips moved slightly as he whispered, “H-hank, my beloved One.” 

Hank was now in control; Boris allowed this as Hank moved to slide the pajama trousers past Boris’ straight hips and down even further along his long legs and, then Boris too, was now completely naked. Hank then moved his hand upward along the inner portion of Boris’ leg taking delight the smoothness of Boris’ skin and the soft hair on his legs. Hank’s hand wandered in other places as well. 

The tenderness of the beginning lasted only so long, and very soon there was fierce desire and movement; because for both men, their hunger needed to be sated; hunger that had waited patiently as they two of them had waited for each other on very different occasions. 

All too soon it seemed that the glorious release and rapture occurred and the bliss-driven tension in their bodies began to subside. They molded themselves against each other, holding onto one another, breathing heavily and whispering words of love in each other’s ears. 

 

~~~

 

At breakfast the next morning, Hank asked Boris, “Can we go on our honeymoon now?”

Boris smiled an enormous smile and his entire face lit up, he looked at Hank and replied, “Why yes, I think we should be able to do anything…now.”

 

~~~

 

The plans which had been originally prepared for their honeymoon, and then ‘rudely interrupted’ by the knife-wielding assailant, were now back on. Udo and the staff assistants began to revisit the details and make the necessary arrangements. 

It was now late September and the weather patterns had not changed yet for winter in either hemisphere, so it was still a good time for their travels; Captain Frank prepared the new flight plan, reservations for their group of suites at the Four Seasons in Lisbon were set, time in the Private Vintage Room at the W&J Grahams 1890 Lodge in Porto was negotiated, the necessary automobiles in both Lisbon and in Cape Town were arranged, the viewing safari, visits to the winery and the mine, as well as their main suite and a group of rooms at the One & Only Resort in Cape Town were all prepared.

Udo apologized profusely to Boris and Hank for the time it was taking to finalize the plans – in total it took an entire week. Udo knew they were excited to embark on their adventure and wanted to be quick; he was bordering on being a nervous wreck.

Boris had sat down with Udo one afternoon, five days into the planning stage, and tried to assure him that all was well. Boris thought that perhaps if they sat down together and were at eye-to-eye level, Udo would relax a bit. Boris said, “Udo, you do not need to worry so much. We are very grateful for your efforts and have held fast this long, what is another week or so, ja?”

“But Sir, I do not want to make you wait,” Udo said, almost in a panic.

“I know this, and I am not concerned over the time this is taking; you know that I require quality over quantity,” Boris was trying to be gentle, “I should prefer that you to take all of the time necessary to make certain all of the details are in place. I want nothing to be missed; I want Hank to have a perfect honeymoon.” 

If someone were to have overheard this conversation, someone would have sarcastically thought ‘Oh, no pressure!’

“Yes, Sir, I understand,” Udo said only somewhat resigned, “I will also triple check every detail.”

Boris looked with amusement and fondness at his most trusted assistant. He simply wasn’t going to be able to make Udo feel any better it seemed and then thought that he would ask Hank (who was quite adept at charming people into submission) to speak with Udo. Boris simply didn’t want Udo to be so frantic, it just wasn’t becoming to him and Boris feared that Udo would work himself into illness – Udo had done this before and all for Boris’ sake.

 

That evening, as they were getting ready for bed, Boris asked Hank, “Would you be so kind as to speak with Udo tomorrow, Hank? He has worked himself into a lather over the details of our honeymoon. He is worried that he is taking too long with the preparations. I reminded him that, yes, this is a special trip, and we understand that quality and details take time, but I tried to assure him that we are not concerned if we have to wait until all is in readiness.” 

Boris was admiring Hank’s bare chest as Hank reached up to put on his sleep shirt; Hank’s sleep pants were very low on his hips and so Boris was also treated to a view of Hank’s muscular abdomen - of which he enjoyed immensely. The scar from the knife wound was still visible, but the stitches were long gone by this time; Boris simply pretended that he didn’t see the scar.

As his head poked through the neckline of the shirt, his hair ruffled, Hank replied, “Sure, I can do that. We don’t want him to get upset; if Udo is upset, we’re doomed. You didn’t look at him with those ‘laser beam’ eyes of yours, did you?” Hank smiled a very charming smile.

Alarmed suddenly and trying to remember how his interaction with Udo went, Boris knitted his eyebrows and replied, “Eh, I thought I was being kind… In any case, would you please use that smile on Udo, too? You have a pleasant way of endearing yourself to people, and I really do not want Udo to become ill over this; which he could possibly do. He is coming with us, and he and the rest of our traveling staff need to enjoy themselves also, ja?” Boris was concerned over this thought.

“Yeah, that would be great if all of them could have some fun. You and I don’t need to be watched all the time…or do we?” Hank asked tentatively.

Boris came over to Hank and wrapped his arms lovingly around his husband, and looked down at him with amusement, “You simply amaze me sometimes, my beloved One; you seem to never know when we must be protected and when we do not need to be,” Boris pulled Hank close and buried his nose in Hank’s hair.

“’Protected’, so that’s the word for being watched, I get it now, Tree,” Hank said with his left cheek against Boris’ charcoal-toned, silk pajama shirt, his arms wrapped around Boris’ firm torso.

“No, you do not get it, Hank, and you most likely never will; but that is fine as you are quite appealing to me when you are confused,” Boris said with a chuckle.

“I can be appealing in other ways, too, you know…” Hank said as one of his hands moved smoothly downward from Boris’ back to firmly grip Boris’ backside and pulled Boris against him.

 

~~~

 

Three days later, everything was set and the honeymooners had even finished packing. Hank took great care with Udo and Udo finally relaxed. 

Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine, a married couple who lived in New York and who had been in Boris’ employ as his aviation crew for over 5 years, were waiting at the plane in the Teterboro Private Jet Terminal in New Jersey for the Shadow Pond entourage to arrive. The two SUV’s and the Porsche Panamera arrived early that morning with the entire group: Boris, Hank, Udo, Khalil, Misha, Daniel, Anthony, and Efraim.

All of the luggage was stowed in the Gulfstream G650 long-range private jet, everyone got settled in, and after the necessary communications with the control tower, they took off into a clear blue sky on their way to Lisbon, Portugal.

Hank was giddy, perfectly giddy in fact, and Boris felt joyful inside to see Hank this way. 

The plane had a front cabin, a center galley, two lavatories, and a rear cabin. Boris and Hank were in the front private cabin and Anthony served them a light lunch. Everyone else was settled in the rear cabin and would soon have their lunches as well.

“This is terrific!” Hank exclaimed as soon as Anthony had left and he reached over to Boris to grasp his arm, “I can’t believe we are finally going on our honeymoon!”

Boris smiled at Hank and admitted, “I too, am very happy about this now. I have forgotten what it was like to have less worldly cares; I do not feel burdened at the moment.”

“I know that we have a lot planned and I’d like to do it all, but are we going to have time to really rest? As your doctor, I want to see that you sleep as much as you can on this trip. Boris, I’m concerned that you have been waking up at night lately and walking the house,” Hank said with a serious tone.

“Ah, yes, my three a.m. strolls; I had a feeling that you would not appreciate those,” Boris admitted, “I do not know what causes that. It happened a few years ago, as well. I do not feel ill and I try not to wake you when I get out of bed; I just feel that I must move about for a while. When I am finished, I come back to bed and fall asleep quite quickly. Is that not a positive thing?”

“Yeah, in a way; maybe we should try and go to bed later and see if that will adjust your sleep pattern. You should be able to just sleep through the night. Well, we’ll try different things and see what works, but I am not putting you on any sleep medication,” Hank stated.

“Thank you; that type of medication and I do not get along very well. I have tried that before and you would really have something to be concerned about if we resorted to that method,” Boris said as he finished his coffee; he changed the subject and continued, “You are going to enjoy Lisbon, Hank. A vibrant city it is and we are staying at the Four Seasons, a magnificent hotel. We shall also enjoy some very delightful Portuguese cuisine,” Boris explained.

“Good! Maybe we can put a couple of pounds back on your frame during this trip,” Hank said in a teasing voice, but he was not teasing. Boris’ weight had stayed five pounds too light for Dr. Hank’s liking.

The flight to Lisbon took a little over seven hours; the seats in the jet all fully reclined and that made for excellent napping. Nearly everyone on board, except the flight crew, took some form of a nap during that time and surprisingly enough, Boris was the one who slept the longest. He awoke quite refreshed and when Hank asked him how well he had slept, Boris said, “A very sound sleep, indeed. You should see how soundly I sleep on the yacht.”

That gave Hank an idea; perhaps Boris needed some sort of white noise in order to sleep better – the sound of jet engines and the air rushing past the fuselage of the plane provided a soft white noise that was not unpleasant. Aboard the yacht, there was probably the sound of the sea on the hull of the ship and the constant sea breeze. Hank filed these thoughts away in his mind for later use.

 

They landed in Lisbon after a smooth flight across the Atlantic and the entire entourage had already been cleared through security because of Khalil’s efforts before they left the States.

A silver Bentley Continental GTC and two black Audi Q7 Ultimo Modelos were waiting for them on the tarmac. The luggage was transferred from the plane to the vehicles, and the plane was guarded by special hired airport police for the duration of their stay in Lisbon. Khalil wouldn’t let any of them leave until he was completely satisfied that the jet was secured and the vehicles were inspected; he made fast friends with the four officers. Udo had made certain that these officers were being paid extremely well and knew that all would be in order.

As they rode in the Bentley through the streets of Lisbon en route to the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz, Boris was quite interested in the vehicle, “Perhaps we should get one of these back home…what do you think, Hank?” 

“Yeah, this is nice, but so is your Porsche,” Hank replied as he stared out of the window admiring the city. 

The front seats of the vehicle were separated by interior wall so that the back of the vehicle was private. Udo called on the car’s phone from the front seat where he sat with Anthony, who was driving, “Pardon me, Sirs; we shall be arriving at the hotel very shortly. You shall have an hour to refresh yourselves before dinner at Varanda.”

Boris had answered the phone, “Thank you, Udo that is fine.” He hung up and said to Hank, “I want to make certain that we will finish our evening at the Ritz Bar with port and cigars. Hank, you shall not believe the rare ports that they have there…simply exquisite,” Boris said with a light in his eyes.

Hank smiled and thought about how happy his husband looked at the moment.

 

Boris and Hank were settled into the Royal Suite; a sumptuous apartment decorated in tones of taupe and mauve, and was located on the ninth floor of the hotel which overlooked the city, the Tagus River and St. George’s Castle. 

There were five other premier rooms booked on the same floor for the rest of their group, all surrounding the Royal Suite. This was a requirement of Khalil’s as he wanted to make certain that their security was maintained and Boris and Hank’s privacy was assured. Khalil originally wanted Udo to book the entire floor, but Udo thought that idea was excessive and the two negotiated between themselves that booking half of the floor provided ample-enough security.

Boris had stayed in the Suite before and was very pleased it was available for them; he knew that Hank would be amazed by its elegance.

After their luggage was brought in and arranged, they were left alone to relax and prepare for dinner. They both walked over to the large window which was framed in white silk sheers which had been pulled aside, and overlooked the city. Boris wrapped his arms around Hank as they admired the view. Hank did the same and sighed, “We have GOT to have breakfast up here tomorrow. What a view!”

“Oh, I do believe that has already been arranged, my beloved One, but it will arrive only when we call for it and not sooner; I have instructed that we are not be disturbed – for any reason - from after we return here this evening…” Boris looked at Hank, took one hand and stroked Hank’s jaw line, then continued, “…until in the morning, when we are ready for our breakfast. I want our world tonight to be just within this suite; and, I want you all to myself with no interruptions.”

 

Dinner was perfect. From the octopus confit, to the turbot with Ritz salt, from the white asparagus, foie gras and black truffle sauce, to the dark chocolate croustillant and all of the dinner’s accompaniments, dinner at Varanda was sublime to the nth degree. They were seated outside as the weather was mild, lanterns were lit along the restaurant’s terrace, and Udo had arranged for a special bottle of Portuguese Espumante VEQPRD (made in the traditional Champagne method) to be presented, served, and enjoyed by the men as well.

Hank was quite happy that the dress code for the evening was ‘jackets recommended’, but Boris quietly admitted that he felt naked without a tie and pocket square. Hank whispered to him after the waiter had served their appetizers and left them alone, “…just wait until later, I’m going to get you plenty naked.”

 

Boris had brought along a number of his Montecristo Dantes Edicion Limitada cigars for both of them to enjoy on the trip, and that night at the Ritz Bar was the first of many evenings. These cigars were handmade in Cuba, and extremely difficult to come by, unless you had connections - like Boris did. These, he explained, were also aged which gave them “…a unique and powerful, yet not overwhelming flavor…” Boris brought them out only on special occasions. 

Hank enjoyed watching Boris relish the flavors of the cigar along with the rare port they were served. Many of the nuances were lost on Hank as he was not a true cigar smoker, but he did like what he tasted; he thought that the port wine was ‘liquid dessert’ (in a very good way), and listened with interest as Boris described what he was experienced with the pairing. Hank appreciated the times when Boris seemed truly happy and at peace with the moment. 

As they had flown across the Atlantic, Hank happily watched as Boris became more relaxed; Hank noticed that in the bright sunlight which came in through the plane’s cabin windows, Boris’ eyes appeared more blue rather than grey and he enjoyed how that offset Boris’ long, silver/grey hair. It suddenly occurred to Hank that Boris’ hair appeared to have become somewhat more silver as the months had gone by. 

Hank thought back to the very first moment that he actually looked at Boris, not just saw him. Hank remembered being struck by Boris’ confidence, his dignified manner, and his amused circumspect expression. Hank had been struck in the manner of not knowing how to react to Boris and struck practically into immobility. ‘When did I actually fall in love with Boris?’ was a question that had kept rolling through Hank’s mind over their months together and he had yet to find that answer. 

Hank openly shared this question with Boris one intimate night and Boris gently offered, “We do not remember when we take our first breath, it simply happens, and we only learn later to be grateful for it.”

 

Later that evening, the honeymooners were back in the Royal Suite, doing what honeymooners do best: loving one another. The light from the city filtered in through the sheers and gave a soft glow to everything in the room, making the lighter tones of the décor seem transparent and the darker tones seem deeper. Boris and Hank took complete delight in all of sensory treats that came to them that night: visual, tactile, and audible. In a moment of sentimentality, they spoke their vows again to each other and then made love to one another once more.

It was certainly very late before Boris and Hank fell blissfully exhausted into a deep sleep. 

 

~~~

 

It was also certainly very late the next morning before either of them awakened and Hank was the first to do so. He opened his eyes and saw a different ornate ceiling above him, and then remembered he wasn’t home at Shadow Pond; he smiled very broadly and stayed very still and allowed his senses to sharpen. He thought his head was on a warm pillow and tried to figure that out, but then realized that his head was actually on Boris’ stomach as it rose and fell gently with each breath that Boris took. Hank stayed there for a moment longer, but then nature called and he had to move.

Somehow, the two of them had managed to fall asleep on a diagonal across the large bed and the pillows were strewn about them, the cover sheet and the thick, white, chenille blanket were entwined around them. 

Hank continued to smile as he remembered what happened over the course of the night. He slowly raised his head off of Boris’ stomach hoping not to wake him. Hank didn’t know what time it was, but by the look of the bright sunlight coming in through the sheer curtains, it could have been noon for all he knew. Hank continued to move slowly and tried to slip out from underneath the covers, he got a foot tangled in them and had to work through that without hitting Boris with his knee. 

Just then, Boris took a deep breath and while still asleep turned onto his left side as his right arm came around and almost pinned Hank to the bed. Hank was just quick enough to dodge the long arm and then eased out from under the covers. Boris continued to move and was then lying belly down on the bed with his face turned toward Hank on the pillow, still asleep. As Hank stood up at the side of the bed, he looked down at his sleeping husband with amusement. Boris’ hair was a wild mess on the pillow and he was partially covered with the blanket but only his legs and feet were hidden. Hank greatly appreciated the view of Boris’ lean bare back, and backside, and Hank’s bare body responded in kind. He looked down at himself and thought, ‘You have other more important things to do right now!’

After a trip to the bathroom and discovering that the hotel robe was the fluffiest thing he had ever worn, Hank also looked to see that it was just after eleven a.m. He was suddenly very hungry and he thought that when Boris woke up, he would have to be hungry, too. Hank thought, ‘Boris just has to be starving after what we did last night!’ Hank wondered how he could go about getting their breakfast served. He walked barefoot out of the bedroom into the living area as he continued to enjoy the robe’s softness against his bare skin; he closed the bedroom door quietly, and went to a table which had a phone on it. There was a handwritten card next to the phone, which read: ‘Please dial 5 for breakfast delivery, then hang up.’

“Oh, that’s simple,” Hank said quietly to himself; then he thought happily, ‘Maybe they will come before Boris wakes up and I can serve him breakfast in bed!’

Sometimes, things go just the way you want them to go. Hank got his wish, he did as the card instructed and their breakfast was quickly brought in by a server with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail that went down to her hips. Her tuxedo uniform was impeccable and she wore white gloves. She spoke not a word, but bowed to Hank; she also did not meet Hank’s eyes but smiled and left the suite and closed the door silently.

“Wow,” said Hank to himself. He stood for a moment admiring the beautiful three-layer cart with white linens, crystal and silver. “Fit for my king,” Hank said quietly, and was very happy with the situation. He started to smell something delicious coming from one or two of the covered serving dishes and his stomach made a loud noise. Hank grimaced and hoped it wasn’t loud enough to wake Boris.

Hank then wheeled the cart over to the bedroom door, stepped around the cart and opened the bedroom door to find Boris standing there just reaching for the door knob. Boris was naked. Their eyes locked (but only after Hank had given Boris the once-over look from head to toe) and Hank said with a playful but serious tone, “Get back in bed, Husband! I am serving you your breakfast!”

Boris chuckled, tilted his head, put his hands on his hips, and replied, “Is that an order, my beloved One?”

“Yes! And make it snappy before you catch a chill!” Hank demanded, again in that playful tone.

Boris turned around and did what he was told. Hank was distracted by the view of Boris’ nakedness, his long torso and legs moved with ease over to the bed as he climbed in, arranged the pillows for his back, and drew the covers around the lower half of his body. Boris put his hands together in his lap, his chin up proudly, and waited for his breakfast. He smiled slightly, although inside, Boris was quite happy. Hank was so distracted that he almost ran the cart into a chair, but stopped just in time and nothing was spilled or disturbed.

Boris sat there upright in bed, looking quite relaxed and amused at Hank. He felt a little bit of a chill across his bare shoulders and wished too, that he had a hotel robe across them. 

Almost as if Hank had read Boris’ mind, Hank said, “Wait a minute, stay there, I’ll get your robe.” Hank trotted off to the bath room and came back quickly with the other robe which he then draped over Boris’ shoulders. Boris grabbed Hank’s robed body with both arms and pulled him with force to a sitting position next to Boris on the bed. 

“Good morning, Husband,” Boris said in a silky voice and they kissed each other with great passion; Boris wove his long fingers in Hank’s hair at the back of his head. After a moment, Boris leaned back slightly and looked deeply with narrowed eyes into Hank’s eyes and asked, “Are you my breakfast?”

“You wish, Tree! Please tell me that you have a real appetite this morning,” Hank said with a hopeful tone as he released his hold on Boris, pulled away, and stood up.

Boris did not let go of Hank that freely, but then looked up at Hank and replied honestly, “Yes, I am hungry. There would be something seriously wrong with me if I did not have an appetite after what YOU did to ME last night.”

“What I did to YOU? Your jokes are getting better,” Hank laughed and turned to the cart. 

“I am serious this time,” Boris said innocently, “What did they bring us?”

 

Because they had gotten such a late start on their day, they talked about adding another two days in Lisbon. Boris said, “I feel as though we should lounge the rest of our day away and postpone the trip to the winery in Porto until tomorrow. Then we could fly out the day after; what do you say to this, Hank?” 

“If we did that, would it cause any problems?” Hank asked.

“Problems? What sort of problems do you mean?” Boris said with a tilt of his head.

“I don’t know, maybe we would miss out on going to the private vintage room like you wanted or…” Hank trailed off as he started to realize that they wouldn’t miss anything because whatever Boris wanted, Boris would have arrangements made, and Boris would receive.

Boris smiled and chuckled as he moved down the couch towards Hank and wrapped his arms around him. They had finished their breakfast in bed and moved to lounge on the couch in front of the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the St. George Castle in the suite’s living room. They brought their coffees over to that sitting area and sipped on them while they gazed at the view. Both men still wore the hotel bath robes and enjoyed the softness of the fabric against their bare skin. Boris knew that all it would take was for him to contact Udo and everything in their itinerary would be adjusted by two days, everything from Captain Frank’s flight plan to the various reservations and appointments. “Situations like this happen all of the time; anything can be moved or adjusted to fit our needs, ja?” Boris said as he tried to reassure Hank, “We are on our honeymoon and the trip needs to be perfect for us.”

Hank got up from the couch, “Hang on a minute…” he said as he walked back into the bedroom. 

Boris watched him leave then turned his head back to the window to admire the view. He reached over to take a sip of coffee and found that what was left of it had become cold. 

Hank returned and had something in his hand; it was Boris’ cell phone and Hank handed it to Boris as he sat down again and snuggled next to Boris, “You’re right. Let’s call Udo and change our current plans, okay? I’m enjoying myself too much to interrupt this and you look very relaxed and happy. You’re right, we don’t need to rush anything… it’s our honeymoon!”

Boris hugged Hank with force and kissed his head where his nose was buried in Hank’s hair behind Hank’s right ear, “Splendid, and I want them to send up fresh hot coffee, too.” Boris opened his cell phone and dialed Udo…

 

~~~

 

Udo had, of course, been able to make all of the changes that Boris and Hank wanted and was delighted to be of service to them. The next day, after a much earlier breakfast, the entourage set out from Lisbon and drove up road A1 through the rolling hills of Portugal. The ride in the Bentley was pure luxury and Hank said the car felt like they, “…were riding on air.” Boris had already made the decision to purchase a similar vehicle when they returned to the Hamptons.

“This is beautiful country, Boris, no wonder port wine tastes so amazing; happy grapes, happy wine,” Hank said as he looked out the window of the car.

Boris asked, “Port has always been a favorite of mine. Do you know the story of how it came to be?”

“Uh, no, I don’t, other than I can guess that a monk created it; all the best stuff seems to have been created by monks,” Hank replied.

“You are correct, Hank. The fortified wine owes its existence to one monk, his name forgotten by history, in the remote Douro Valley. As the story goes, there were two wine merchants in the seventeenth century who explored the valley and came across the Abbot of a Lamego monastery adding grape spirit to his wine early on in its fermentation to preserve its sweetness. That was the beginning of Port. The merchants decided to use this method of ‘fortification’ to preserve their wines for the long sea journey back to England. This wine took its name from the city where these traders had their base: Oporto – or as it is known today, Porto - from where it is to this day shipped to the world,” Boris stated with admiration in his voice.

Hank looked over at Boris and smiled at him, “Who would think that someone as reserved as you, would have so much passion inside. I am so grateful to be the one to experience that contrast first hand.”

Boris looked down in a rare display of shyness and smiled slightly, “Thank you, my beloved One,” He looked back up at Hank and said, “It is…a joy…to now be able to share it with someone who humors me.”

 

The vehicles pulled into the W&J Grahams 1890 Lodge and were greeted by the General Manager himself. Eduardo and Boris had met and done business with each other many times and their reunion was jovial. Boris introduced Hank with a great deal of pride, “Eduardo, please allow me to introduce to you my husband, Dr. Hank Lawson.”

“Ah! Dr. Lawson! I am so honored to meet you! A thousand welcomes from the people of Portugal! Have you been in my beautiful country before?” Eduardo asked with graciousness.

“Thank you. No, Sir, I haven’t; this is my first time here,” Hank admitted with a smile.

“Please tell me that you are enjoying yourself immensely in my country and that you are as avid, and professional, of a drinker of the port wine as my friend, Boris, is here,” Eduardo said with a wave of his hand towards Boris.

Hank chuckled and replied, “I am having a wonderful time,” he looked at Boris and then back at Eduardo, “but I am just learning about the wonders of port wine.”

Eduardo looked at Boris and asked seriously, “You are teaching him properly, yes?” He dramatically put a hand on his heart, “Please tell me you are explaining everything!”

Boris smiled and placed one hand on Eduardo’s shoulder, “Eduardo, meu amigo, do not worry so much; Hank is an apt pupil of the port, even down to pairing it with cigars,” Boris said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small clear package which had three of the aged Montecristos inside of it, and gave it to Eduardo.

Eduardo’s eyes lit up and he smiled widely, “Ai meu Deus! This cannot be, I am not worthy of this gift, my friend, but I will accept it anyway,” he bowed his head when he took the package from Boris and looked at it, “You have brought me the Dantes? I have no words…” there was more amusing dramatics from Eduardo.

 

After spending time in the Private Vintage Room, the negotiations over the purchase and shipping arrangements of a total of 33 cases of port wine, which included their 40-year old tawny, vintage ports from 1960 and 1963, the Quinta dos Malvedos 1965, and the Stone Terraces Vintage, as well as an outdoor lunch served at the Vinum Restaurant and Wine Bar beneath a metal trellis supporting grape vines, Boris and Hank waved goodbye to Eduardo and his gathered staff as they got into their car and were driven away.

“I think you had too much fun at the Lodge, Boris, you are looking immensely pleased with the situation,” Hank said.

“I am pleased as I now have restocked the port section of our wine cellar, Eduardo is pleased because he has just made a good deal of money from us, and you look pleased by the way you are leaning back so comfortable in your seat. Ja, I would say that I am feeling quite satisfied at the moment,” Boris stated.

 

During the three hour drive back to Lisbon, Boris gazed out the window of the car and admired the countryside. He picked up the phone and Udo answered, “Yes, Sir?”

“What time is dinner tonight, Udo?” Boris asked. Boris looked at Hank as he listened.

“Dinner is at eight p.m. at the O Japonês restaurant this evening,” Udo stated.

“Would you please find out if we may take a swim in the spa’s pool this afternoon?” Boris asked as Hank nodded in agreement.

“You both already have day passes to use any of the facilities throughout the length of your stay, Sir,” Udo said.

“Marvelous,” Boris said with a grin on his face as he hung up the phone.

“That’s a great idea, Boris, but did I…” Hank added and tried to remember if he packed his swimsuit, and then remembered that Boris had reminded him to pack it.

“Yes, you did pack your swimsuit,” Boris interrupted him with an amused tone.

“What would I do without you?” Hank asked whimsically.

Boris thought a moment and replied, “Pizza, beer and feet up on the coffee table every night, ja?”

“Busted!” Hank laughed.

 

~~~

 

The flight from Lisbon south across the African continent was not as smooth as the flight across the Atlantic Ocean. There was turbulence generated by a storm system which was raging over southern Algeria, Mauritania and Mali. Captain Frank did his best to skirt the system and managed to make the flight less uncomfortable for his passengers, but the ride was jolting. Security Guard Efraim and Hank were the only two who experienced air sickness. 

It took an hour of smooth flying after that experience for the two men to feel less queasy. Boris insisted on attending to both of them himself and made certain that they were comfortable with blankets, pillows, and glasses of water as they slept off the nausea. Boris had Efraim come to the private front cabin and sleep in his chair, while Hank slept in the other. Boris spent the time in the rear cabin as he drank coffee and talked with Khalil, Udo, Anthony, Misha and Daniel about the stay in Portugal. Boris was very happy to learn that each of them had been able to take some time to enjoy some of the delights of Lisbon. (At the onset of the trip, he had ‘firmly suggested’ that all of them make time to do this, “Life is to be enjoyed, both with duty and pleasure.”)

 

 

They landed at Cape Town International Airport in Matroosfontein, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa a little over an hour later than planned because of the storm. The same process to secure the plane that was used in Lisbon was essentially in place in South Africa, except that a highly respected, private security force (that Boris and Khalil used regularly when they traveled to various parts of the world) was brought in from Austria to do the job. South Africa was still, as Khalil stated, “…very wild and uncivilized and we are unable to fully trust the local police force.” 

This security force had also inspected the three cars leased for the South African aspect of the trip to make certain that nothing had been tampered with. For the duration of their stay in the Western Cape, Udo had arranged a trio of Mercedes Benz vehicles for their use. All three were a blinding white in the bright (and hot) South African sun. For Boris and Hank (with Anthony driving and Udo in the passenger seat): the Mercedes-Maybauch S 600 sedan limousine; for the rest of the team: two Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 SUV’s. 

The drive to the One & Only Resort Cape Town, located on the coast, was less than one-half of an hour from the airport through the heart of Cape Town via Settlers Way. The resort was touted as a ‘destination in itself’. Contemporary in design with views of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and Table Mountain, One & Only Cape Town was part of the Grand Luxury Hotels group and promised to create the most perfect setting for Boris and Hank’s honeymoon.

Greeted warmly by the entire concierge staff and each served a glass of Dom Pérignon, Boris and Hank were escorted to the Presidential Suite to relax until dinner. The suite was decorated in a modern style with dark wood tones, light fabrics, bright accent colors, chrome and glass, and adorned with original works of art and photography by South Africa’s most prominent artists. The suite was actually two full en suite bedrooms with a private kitchen and dining room which seated twelve. Far larger than what the honeymooners truly needed, Boris had wanted it because he wanted the ultimate in luxury for them. Views from every room were stunning, including from the enormous soaking tub in the master bathroom which had its own section of terrace but was attached to the main terrace overlooking Table Mountain. Top-of-the-line in every aspect with well over 30 Presidential Suite-specific amenities, even Boris was pleasantly overwhelmed, and he was accustomed to luxury.

Dinner that night, set for eight p.m., was to be prepared in the suite by the resort’s chef in the private kitchen. The ultimate in privacy was assured as the chef and her staff had their own private entrance to the kitchen and all would be prepared and arranged in the suite’s kitchen and dining room without disturbing Boris and Hank as they lounged in the living area. It was still too warm to sit out on the terrace during the day (South Africa was having unusually high temperatures), but they were promised that once the sun set, their time spent on the main terrace would be perfect.

While their luggage was brought in, unpacked and pressed by the resort’s special housekeeping staff (another service exclusive to the suite), Boris and Hank were given a tour of the suite and learned that everything they would ever need or want was there. Udo had made arrangements for specific items to be placed in the Suite that were favorites of both men. To name a few items, for Boris: various classical books to read, a seasoned humidor for Boris’ special cigars, and shelled black walnuts; for Hank: a vast CD collection to choose from while he would run on the treadmill in the suite’s private gym, a media room with an extensive movie library, and more cookies than Hank could ever eat.

An hour later (and another glass of the champagne), they were finally left alone to enjoy it all. Once again, they both walked over to the lounge area to look out over the terrace at the view of Table Mountain. They held one another in a loving embrace and took in the peace and quiet. 

Hank said, “This suite has everything, Tree, we would never have to leave. And if we did find something that we needed, although I can’t image what that would be, they would just bring it to us.”

“After a while though, I am almost certain that you would need to leave and have some privacy for yourself, as being with me for so much time may become boring to you, ja? This suite is certainly large enough for privacy…” Boris said absently as he looked around.

After momentarily enjoying the way Boris said the word ‘prih vasee’, Hank tensed and pulled away from Boris slightly, but did not release his embrace, “What?! Are you joking? Don’t talk like that; are you okay?” Hank looked up at Boris with a curious expression.

“Ja, I am fine; I just want to respect your need to have any time to yourself, should you desire it, and…” Boris trailed off and looked back out at the view.

“Hey, look at me,” Hank said firmly, “What’s wrong?”

Boris looked back at Hank and smiled a very small smile, as that was all he could manage at the moment, “I should like to blame the two glasses of champagne as they have made me feel a little melancholy. I am sorry that the flight was so rough and seeing you with the air sickness saddened me. I had hoped that nothing would taint this trip for you.”

Hank now studied Boris’ face from both his personal and his medical professional side; Boris did not look that well. “First, the trip is not ‘tainted’, it is perfect. Second, is that all that’s bothering you? Be honest with me,” Hank asked in a firm voice.

“That is currently…all that is in my mind, surely. But perhaps I should eat something as my stomach is a little upset and I feel a little…shaky just now, too; maybe we can locate some cheese and bread in the kitchen?” Boris quietly asked.

“I like to hear that you want to eat…oh, that’s right! You didn’t eat at all on the plane! Crap! You haven’t eaten in, gees, well over 8 hours! It’s going to be quite a few hours until dinner, too; yeah, come on, let’s go raid the fridge,” Hank said cheerfully as he pulled away from Boris, but kept his hand on Boris’ arm and led him to the kitchen.

As they walked to the kitchen, Boris said, “Right now, Hank, I feel that I do not want to have them prepare our dinner for us…eh…I mean that I feel as if I do not want anyone here with us this evening. Is this wrong?”

Hank stopped walking and looked at Boris, “No, it’s not wrong; it’s our honeymoon, remember? Come on; let’s see what’s in there…I have an idea.” They continued into the kitchen.

The fridge and the kitchen, it turned out, were packed with all manner of fresh food, both ready to eat and ready to be prepared.

Hank said while he looked into the pantry, “Here’s my idea: we postpone the chef’s dinner until tomorrow and tonight we take advantage of what is here. Look at all of this stuff! How about we gather up some food and make a picnic in the lounge area? Then, when the sun goes down, we can have dessert out on the terrace. What do you think?”

Boris had retrieved a knife and had already cut into a block of smoked Gouda, uncharacteristically using his fingers to pick up the slice and was chewing on the piece of cheese when he nodded his head in agreement at Hank’s idea. 

Hank looked at Boris and thought that he had never truly seen Boris look so hungry before. Hank was both happy and worried at the same time about this. He started to quickly gather things together for the ‘picnic’. He said, “You keep eating, here are some grapes and, wow, look at this nice bread!” Hank ripped off a portion of a crusty seeded bread, handed it to Boris, (who nodded his thanks) and said, “I’ll get the rest of this together for us.” 

Hank found a large tray upon which he piled all sorts of cheeses, bread, fruit, pickled vegetables, and smoked meats. He carried it into the lounge area and placed in on the coffee table; Boris followed him and was now eating a large strawberry. Hank sat Boris down on the couch and said, “Sit here, keep eating, I’ll call them to postpone the dinner tonight and also find us something to drink.”

Boris looked up at Hank, smiled in gratitude, said nothing as he was chewing and Boris never spoke when he had food in his mouth; he just kept eating in his usual manner: always small bites. Hank suddenly thought that Boris was the perfect picture of a most civilized starving man sitting there in his suit, tie and pocket square and eating with his fingers (something Boris never did).

Hank walked over to the desk, where he dialed the operator on the speakerphone, “Hello?”

The operator answered, “Good evening, Dr. Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz, how may I assist you?”

Boris stopped chewing for a moment as he stared at Hank in surprise.

Hank replied with a surprised expression on his face and looked at Boris before he looked around as if trying to see if there was a camera, “Um, yes, we’d like to postpone our chef’s dinner for this evening until tomorrow? Please? We’d like to have privacy this evening.”

“Of course, Doctor. We hope that you and Mr. Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz-Lawson enjoy your evening. Please dial two for your breakfast in the morning when you are ready. Good night, Sir,” was the pleasant reply.

“Uh, thank you,” was all that Hank could say as he hung up, “…that was weird.”

Hank looked at Boris now, who was spreading some soft cheese on a chunk of bread; Hank said, “Keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll go find us some non-alcoholic beverages. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Boris nodded and watched Hank leave the lounge area; he paused for a moment in his chewing and then gazed across the room at a sculpture. Boris was so grateful for Hank to care for him at this moment, and Boris felt too weary and too hungry to be annoyed for putting himself into this situation; he knew he should have eaten something on the plane. Boris had also not taken his medications and when he remembered this, he stood up to start to walk to the bathroom. Boris assumed the medications had been placed in the bathroom. He knew he should take them right away or Hank would be upset. Boris didn’t want Hank to be upset.

Hank returned to the lounge area with what looked like a pitcher of hibiscus tea and two glasses, one with ice and one without. Hank said, “What are you doing? Where are you going?” He set the pitcher and glasses down on the coffee table.

Boris swallowed what he was chewing, stopped in his tracks, and replied, “I have just remembered that I need to take my medications and was going to retrieve them to do so.”

“Oh gees, you didn’t take your meds AND you didn’t eat?!” Hank ran his hand through his hair and pointed to the couch, “No, you go back and sit down, keep eating, I’ll get your medications for you,” Hank said as he walked out of the lounge and to the bathroom.

Boris sat down and sighed; he discovered a dinner fork on the tray, picked it up and found some prosciutto to eat.

Hank returned with one of each of Boris’ pills in the palm of his hand, sat down on the couch, held Boris’ hand and poured them into his palm. Hank poured two glasses of tea and gave the one without ice to Boris. “Take those right now,” he said in a neutral but firm voice not wanting to make Boris feel embarrassed; Hank knew Boris already felt poorly about being late to take the medications. Boris had developed a good habit of taking them at the same time every day and this situation interrupted that habit.

Boris did as he was instructed. He smiled slightly at Hank and shyly said, “Thank you, my beloved One, for caring for me. I know that I am not always easy to manage.”

“You’re welcome and you’re right about that, but I still love you, no matter what,” Hank said fondly, “Let’s both eat now.”

 

No longer hungry and the medication in his bloodstream, Boris felt much better. Hank ate heartily and felt great, and he wasn’t as worried about Boris as he was before; Dr. Hank even thought that Boris’ normal color had returned to his skin. They had decided to change into their sleeping clothes before having dessert out on the terrace. Boris found a fruit torte in the refrigerator and brought it out to Hank on the terrace.

“What? No plates? No formal service? This is not like you, Boris; do I need to take your temperature?” Hank said in surprise.

“We are not completely uncivilized as I have also brought for us napkins and coffee. I thought we could, what do you call it ‘go commando’ with the dessert this evening. Eh, ‘dig in’, as you say…” Boris stated proudly as he handed Hank a fork and held one for himself.

 

~~~

 

The en suite bathroom had an enormous, white porcelain, soaking tub which, when you fully opened the French doors, overlooked a part of the terrace that provided a stunning view of Table Mountain. This mountain was the fifth site to be confirmed as a natural wonder by the New7Wonders Foundation of Switzerland and at well over 3,500 foot in elevation, it gave Boris and Hank with an imposing structure to admire as they lounged in the tub together. The warm water and the vanilla, cinnamon and rosemary-scented bathing soap was luxurious and cleansing. 

Boris sat against the inside of the tub with Hank’s back to his front and between his legs; Hank was using Boris as his backrest. The tub was large enough for both of them to stretch their legs out fully in front of them, even Boris’ long legs. They enjoyed the fact the water temperature could be maintained at whatever degree they chose by way of a control panel conveniently placed where they could reach it without getting out of the tub. They both sipped on large goblets of fresh orange juice and Hank had put a CD by Benise called ‘Sentimento’ in the player to be their background music. 

Hank sighed and said, “This is really nice, Boris, are you enjoying this as much as I am?”

“Yes, quite. I thought that perhaps after our bath, we could take a walk ‘round the grounds of the resort. Although you and I have had plenty of…activity…” and he kissed Hank’s head, “…it would be pleasant for us to walk and explore, I think,” Boris replied.

“We should let Khalil know, huh?” Hank asked.

Boris smiled, took a drink of orange juice, and said, “Of course, we do not need our staff to worry about us and where we have wandered off to, even though this resort is private and secure. We do not have any set plans until this evening with the chef’s dinner, as far as I know. We should also check with Udo to see what the rest of the trip itinerary is now; I recall that he planned something every other day, or so, for us so that we could have a day of rest in between those days.”

“I’m glad to hear that we’ve got relaxation on the itinerary,” Hank said cheerfully.

Udo had been the one to purposefully schedule in relaxation because he knew Dr. Hank would ask for it.

It was late morning and the two men had already been busy. Boris had awakened Hank with a ‘massage of sorts’ (Boris’ words), which had led to some delightfully slow intimacy; then there was breakfast ordered and brought in. 

Hank finished his orange juice and reached over to put the goblet on a side table next to the bathtub. He leaned back against Boris in the tub and swirled the scented, milk-white, and slightly bubbly water with his hands in front of them. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about something, Tree,” Hank said as he leaned his head back on Boris’ shoulder.

Boris took a final drink of his orange juice, and stretched his neck a bit, which raised his chin, extended his arm slightly to also place his empty goblet also on the side table; he returned his arms to envelope Hank in the water, “Ask away, my beloved One,” he said calmly.

“Do you remember what they called me last night, when I asked them to postpone the dinner? Dr. Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz,” Hank said with a proud and reminiscent tone.

Boris smiled and again kissed Hank’s head, “Yes, I remember. I was quite amused by the sound of that.”

“We’ve not talked about our last names; have you ever thought about it though?” Hank asked.

“It has crossed my mind on more than one occasion, ja. It was intriguing to me to hear someone say your name in that way. Then, in that next moment, I was surprised to hear my own name said in the way that they said it. This ‘change’ felt both complicated and yet not so,” Boris said with an amused tone of voice.

“I know what you mean. We’re gonna need longer business cards,” Hank said plainly.

Boris laughed out loud and with Hank in the position he was in the tub with Boris, Hank thought he had never felt anything so magical. Both the deep sound of Boris’ laughter and the physical vibration from his throat and chest made Hank feel extra special and lighthearted. 

 

Khalil and Udo were notified of their intent to take their walk on the grounds and Khalil, Misha, Daniel, and Udo accompanied them, all at a discreet distances. Efraim had stayed with Frank and Catherine as the two of them lounged at the pool. Boris and Hank confirmed with Udo what the next few days would be filled with and they discovered that their next planned activity, a wildlife viewing safari, was not until two days out.

Both men wore light-colored trousers and short-sleeved shirts because of the hot weather. Boris and Hank went walking the grounds of the resort and spent many hours outside as they discovered the pool area (greeting their flight crew), the gardens and the waterfront. Boris also wore his straw fedora and Serengeti sunglasses, used his cane, and looked more striking, and taller, than Hank remembered him ever to be. Hank felt so proud to be walking next to Boris and he stood a little taller, too, because of that. 

Boris felt equally as proud to be walking next to (‘my Husband’) Hank and noticed the looks they received from other guests at the resort. The two of them together most definitely turned heads. Boris felt a little unnerved by this at first, but then he knew that their security team and Udo were nearby, and saw Hank’s confident and happy expression, so Boris shrugged off the uneasiness and told himself to calm.

Hank had thought once a few months ago, that he should get a hat, too, he just didn’t know what style was best for him and so he never pursued the matter. As they walked through the gardens, Hank said, “Boris, I think I need a hat, this sun is brutal. What kind of a hat do you think I should wear?”

“Why I believe that a trilby would best suit you, Hank. It is similar to the fedora that I am wearing, however, it has a narrower brim and a shorter crown; these elements would work best with your type of style. Let us walk over to the concierge office to ask them to arrange for a quality hat maker to come to the resort and meet with us, ja?” Boris suggested.

So they did, and the concierge was extremely helpful; she made an appointment the next day for them before lunch. Charles, from Cape Town Gentlemen’s Clothiers, would come and take measurements, and bring different samples of hats for Hank to try on. Charles had also promised to have whatever hat that Hank chose delivered to them at the resort before six p.m. that same day.

Hank said sincerely, as he waved Khalil over to the concierge’s desk, “Please make sure you work with our Security Chief, Khalil, for this appointment, too. “

Boris was off to one side and he leaned against the doorway of the office (as he felt he needed support suddenly); he had his arms crossed in front of his chest and the cane hung from his arm; he had an amused expression on his face. He was very proud of Hank at that moment.

 

They decided to have their afternoon coffee at the café just off the pool area. After twenty minutes, Boris stared out across the pool at the coastline. It was very hot outside, yet they were in the shade.

“You’re awfully quiet, Boris, is everything okay?” Hank asked.

Taking a final sip of coffee, Boris looked slowly back at Hank and replied, “Ja, just my head aches a bit, nothing to be concerrrned about, really...” He then picked up a glass of water and drank it down quickly.

Udo stood a short distance away and off to Boris’ left and knew that something wasn’t quite right with Boris. Hank faced Boris and as Udo started to step forward to provide aid, Hank made a hand signal below the table line and out of Boris’ line-of-sight, which stopped Udo. He nodded his head at Hank and stood in readiness.

“I think you might be a little dehydrated, we should go back inside now,” Dr. Hank cautiously said as he watched Boris intently, “How would you like to take an afternoon nap with me?” He didn’t know how Boris would react to this suggestion.

“I ssshould like that verrry much,” Boris replied in a now more slurred voice, almost in a daze, and stared at something off to his right.

They rose from their chairs, Boris more slowly than Hank. Boris almost forgot his cane, but then pointed a finger when he remembered it, leaned over and swayed a bit and grabbed the handle of the cane from where the cane was leaning against the table. Hank then nodded to the café server and guided Boris with a hand at his elbow as they walked away from the heat into the cool interior of the building. Udo followed them. Hank nodded to Udo, formed the words ‘thank you’ with his lips, and smiled tightly.

 

There was an extra-large lounge chair in the living area of their suite that was piled with ornately embroidered pillows which just begged to be napped upon. Boris immediately went to the chair, placed his hat, cane and sunglasses on the table, sat down rather abruptly, took off his shoes and socks, and leaned back into the pillows. His hair was quite damp.

“Ah, this is nice; come Haaank, get comfortable besides me, please?” Boris offered.

Hank walked over to the lounge chair and moved Boris’ damp hair from his forehead; then he touched Boris’ forehead with the back of his hand, “You’re a little warm, let me get us some glasses of water with lemon first, just rest there.” Hank turned and went into the kitchen.

When Hank returned, Boris was asleep, his face looked pale and his skin was hot and dry. Hank placed the glasses of water on the table and then found the switch to operate the fan which was in the center of the ceiling and turned it on to the medium setting; this made the air in the room flow pleasantly. Hank walked into their bedroom and retrieved his medical bag from the closet. He brought the bag into the living area and dug out the temperature gauge device which he then used on Boris, touching his forehead, temple and below his ear. Boris didn’t even stir when the device touched his skin. Just as Hank thought, Boris had a serious elevated temperature. Hank checked his pulse and it was faster than normal; Boris’ breathing was also shallow. Hank thought it best to just let Boris sleep for now and decided to take a run on the treadmill.

 

Hank changed into a t-shirt and shorts and as Hank ran, he listened to a greatest hits CD by Queen, but with only one ear bud in his right ear because he wanted to be able to hear if Boris called out for him. A steady 30 minute run was perfect to invigorate Hank, and he stepped off the treadmill, toweling his face and neck dry as he walked back into the living space. 

Boris was still asleep and breathing quickly; Hank couldn’t tell if he was having trouble breathing or dreaming. Hank took Boris’ temperature and checked his pulse again and they were both lower than before, so he surmised that Boris was dreaming. Hank sat on the edge of the lounge chair and watched Boris sleep. 

Boris started awake after a few minutes and seemed to struggle with focusing his eyes. Finally, Boris focused on Hank’s face and Hank smiled back at him sweetly. Boris blinked slowly and now breathed more slowly; he asked quietly, “Are you all right?”

“That’s my line, mister. Yeah, I’m fine; I just finished a run on the treadmill. How do YOU feel?” Dr. Hank asked.

“Thick feeling and an ache in my head, thirsty,” Boris said slowly as he rubbed his eyes.

Handing Boris one of the glasses of water that was untouched and still on the table, he directed, “Drink this right now, and then you need to drink the other glass right after that.”

Boris did as he was instructed and leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “What is this?” he asked as he rubbed his forehead.

“I think you got hit with a little heat stroke, which is funny because you had a hat to cover your head and I didn’t,” Hank said.

“Well, if you recall, I am older than you are,” Boris said quietly, opening his eyes, knowing what the response would be to that statement.

“What did I tell you about making ‘old’ comments?!” Hank said with sudden annoyance.

Boris then smiled slyly.

“Oh, you dog you! You’re making a joke!” Hank said relieved as he swiped the back of his hand across Boris’ upper arm.

“Come here and let me hold you,” Boris asked.

“Not yet,” Hank said as he stood up and began to walk to the kitchen, “I want you to drink some of that nice tea first, hold on…”

Hank returned with two glasses of the hibiscus tea. Boris sat up, gingerly, and took the glass Hank offered him. 

“It was not that hot outside for me to react like this,” Boris said as he drank half of the tea down immediately.

“Oh yes it was; it was 105 degrees outside when we were walking. I looked it up. You just don’t do well in extreme climate, it happens to many people, don’t worry. We should have walked half of the time we did; we were just enjoying ourselves so much, we didn’t pay enough attention,” Hank stated as he took Boris’ temperature again, “So, it seemed like you were dreaming, do you remember any of the dream?” Hank then drank some of his tea.

Boris ran his hand through his hair and said, “Ja, I was moving rocks from one place to another. Large rocks, very dirty work…eh, I do believe that I need a shower.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting. I could use a shower, too. Do you need someone to wash your back?” Hank said charmingly.

 

The rescheduled dinner was ‘divine’, as Boris called it. Simple yet flavorful, the chef prepared them an African spice blend-rubbed roasted chicken with mashed sweet potatoes and fresh creamery butter, a salad of vegetables and greens grown there at the resort with a blush wine vinaigrette. A crisp Mulderbosch Savingnon Blanc was served very cold; and dessert was (since they had eaten the fruit torte the night before) a sea salt and caramel chocolate cake with dark fudge ganache. They asked the chef and her two sous chefs to join them for dessert and coffee on the terrace, which they accepted, and a lively hour of conversation ensued.

 

~~~

 

Once one got past the wide purple streak in Charles’ hair, one could believe that Charles was an expert hat maker simply by what he brought with him, the language he used, and his confidence. He himself never wore hats, as Charles wore other streaks of color in his hair at times (the color was his ‘hat’), but Charles knew how to fit men with the perfect hat. 

Khalil wasn’t quite sure what to do (background check-wise) with Charles because Khalil didn’t have the usual resources as he did in the States, so he decided to have his whole team in the Presidential Suite during Hank’s hat fitting. They could “…pounce on Charles…” (Daniel’s words) in an instant if something went wrong.

Hank thought Khalil’s plan was overkill (“…it’s just a hat fitting, Khalil!”), but since the Suite was so large, it didn’t feel like they were crowded in together and so Hank just gave up and enjoyed the experience.

Udo was hopeful that all would go smoothly, wore a closed expression, and stayed just out of the way.

Boris was amused by it all as he leaned against the credenza and watched everyone with his arms crossed at his chest.

And Boris was correct to think that a trilby style hat suited Hank best. Charles was quite impressed with Boris’ sense of fashion and became even a little too ‘friendly’ with Boris at one point, which prompted Khalil to move his team in closer to where Boris was situated. Hank had to physically step between Boris and Charles, and then distract Charles with a (albeit false) second-guess at another style of hat.

Udo had to turn away momentarily so that no one would see his eyes rolled back in his head with an expression of ‘Oh good heavens, now what?’

When all was said and done, a handsome trilby hat of a medium taupe shade with a thin, deep blue hat band was chosen and Charles promised it would be delivered before six p.m. that evening. Boris and Hank graciously thanked Charles for his assistance and expertise; Udo worked with Charles about the bill, Khalil and Daniel formally escorted Charles, and his cart of hat boxes out of the Suite and to the resort’s lobby.

After everyone else, except Udo, had left the Suite, both Boris and Hank burst into laughter. Udo tried very hard not to laugh, failed miserably, and then busied himself with arranging their now late lunch.

 

Charles delivered Hank’s new hat at 5:30 p.m. Udo went to the lobby to receive the hat in its box and brought it back to their Suite. Charles was very unhappy that he didn’t get to see Boris again and said “…oh, dear me, that man did put a spring in my step; perhaps next time.” Hank was very pleased with his new hat. Boris was very amused about everything.

 

When Boris had excused himself, Hank took Udo aside and asked, “How long is the viewing safari tomorrow? I’m concerned as to how long we will be out in the heat.”

“Yes, Sir, I understand. Based upon what occurred yesterday, I took the liberty to shorten the excursion to a half-day, and in the morning, instead of the full day,” Udo stated, “Your guides told me that you shall most likely see more animals in the morning when it is cooler anyway.”

“Udo, you…are…amazing. Thank you so much for your help. I’d like to bring extra water as well,” Hank said.

“Already arranged, Sir; and your guides will also now provide these cloths which are draped around one’s neck to help with keeping cool,” Udo said and make a draping motion around his own neck with his hand.

Hank smiled at Udo and patted him on the shoulder, “Thank you.”

As Boris walked back into the room, he heard Hank thanking Udo and asked, “What are we thanking Udo for…I think he has probably saved our lives once more, ja?”

Udo blushed slightly and looked down in shyness; Hank nodded, smiled, and said, “Yup…that he has!”


	12. Recommendation, Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Often, a suggestion or a proposal as to the best course of action, especially from a devoted spouse or a dear friend is all that we need in life.

Dinner was later that evening at Nobu, an innovative Japanese-style restaurant which incorporated flavors of Africa – very unique and highly regarded; but Hank was hesitant on many of the offerings as they were more exotic than what he was accustomed to (even since his life with Boris had begun); the restaurant provided small tastes so that he could experiment, if he chose to do so, and not be intimidated or become unhappy during the course of their meal. 

The Resort’s Head Chef did prepare him a cooked-to-order, beef Rib Eye Steak Oscar, with Pan-Fried Potatoes and Steamed Broccolini with Irish Sharp Cheddar Sauce, and Hank was very grateful. Boris enjoyed his dinner of Smoked Eel, Steamed Bok Choy, Heirloom Carrots, and Lotus Root, with Forbidden Black Rice. 

“I know this is going to sound weird, Boris, but I have a craving for Chef Henri’s Mac and Cheese; there’s just something about the way Chef makes it that I love,” Hank admitted during the meal.

Boris smiled, said he understood, and praised Hank for tolerating his culinary explorations. Boris made a mental note to ask their suite-assigned chef to create ‘Mac and Cheese’ for Hank at her next opportunity. Boris recalled the ingredients and the cooking manner of the dish, although he himself did not enjoy it. For him, ‘Mac and Cheese’ was an overcooked 'mess' (Boris' thoughts); Boris preferred his pasta very al dente and his cheese defined and the two of them not mixed together like ‘so much yellow mud’ (Boris’ words).

 

Still later that night, after they each enjoyed many glasses of wine (considerably more than their usual), and cigars out on the terrace, they climbed into bed. Boris said that he felt warm and announced to Hank that he would sleep in the nude, which was enthusiastically received by Hank, who promptly did the same. 

All of that wine had considerably lowered any inhibitions that either of them MAY have had that evening, and at one point, there was a great amount of laughter over who could make their hair look more crazy. Boris won that contest.

They finally settled in bed comfortably together, Hank held Boris lovingly in his arms. The problem with being nude together was that they could not help but touch and caress one another, and of course, that led to more urgent loving movements. 

At one delicate moment, within the throes of passion, Boris cried out Hank’s name and held him as if Boris was afraid that he would lose Hank. Hank as well, was overwhelmed within his moment, and repeated his love for Boris and asked to stay with Boris forever. 

Spent and utterly exhausted, they fell asleep wrapped around each other.

 

~~~

 

It was already 85 degrees outside when the 8:00 a.m. viewing safari vehicles left the main building at the entrance of Inverdoorn Game Reserve for their Big 5 Private Safari. The Reserve was a two-and-a-half hour’s drive from Cape Town and so that meant everyone was up and moving about very early that morning in order for them to be on time. 

After a night of too much wine and a lot of ‘private activity’, Boris commented to Hank (during the drive to the Reserve) that there wasn’t enough coffee in the world to make his head feel better and Hank couldn’t have agreed more. They had to be on the road by 5:30 a.m., which meant that they had to get out of bed, dress, and actually function much earlier than that. After they both got settled into the sedan, they both promptly fell asleep wearing their sunglasses although the sun had not yet risen; they remained that way for an hour.

Udo had stocked the Mercedes with coffee, ibuprofen, citrus water, and a variety of cold breakfast foods with the hope that they would (during the drive) sleep, awaken, eat and feel better before they arrived at the Reserve. Udo had a feeling that they both had a late night and this consideration proved to be very helpful to the honeymooners. 

 

When Hank awoke, the first thing he saw was Boris holding the bottle of ibuprofen trying to read the small print without his reading glasses. In fact, Boris was wearing his sunglasses at the end of his nose as if they were his reading glasses. Boris had dug through the basket that held the items which Udo had gathered for them and had found the medication bottle. 

Boris quietly asked Hank, “Precisely, how many of these may I ingest before I have to be rushed to Hospital?”

Hank rubbed his eyes and dragged his hands through his hair, blinked and softly said, “Depends on the strength, gimme the bottle and let me see…”

Boris handed the bottle to Hank, who blinked again, read the print and slowly said, “…uh, one tablet every twelve hours.”

“Oh, goodness, Hank - that will not be enough to clear my head,” Boris complained.

“It’s going to help along with some water and food, trust me,” Hank said as he opened the bottle and poured out two pills.

“Here’s yours,” and Hank handed what seemed like a ridiculously small pill to Boris, which Boris took and swallowed without any liquid.

“Hey! Drink something with that!” Hank raised his voice as he handed a bottle of citrus water to Boris and opened one for himself to take his own pill.

“Please do not shout, Hank! This automobile is a small space and my head is ready to explode,” Boris grimaced and took a long drink from the bottle.

“Oh, sorry, uh, yeah, that did hurt…here’s some coffee,” Hank said more quietly as he poured two mugs of coffee from the thermos, “What kind of food is there?”

Boris opened the basket fully, started unpacking everything and laid it out on the seat between them. Both men just took whatever they saw first and ate eagerly. For the next thirty minutes, there was only eating and drinking and nodding in agreement with one another.

“Has it been twelve hours yet? May I take another pill?” Boris asked sincerely.

“YOU are SO funny, keep eating…” Hank replied between mouthfuls of a croissant breakfast sandwich (Hank’s favorite).

 

Their stomachs were now full and Hank’s headache seemed to be subsiding after ‘the car picnic’ (Boris’ words); Boris opened the second thermos of coffee and poured two more mugs for them. “We certainly did not plan this out well enough, did we?” Boris asked as he held his forehead in his hand, “I would prefer right now to be in our bed sleeping off the next eleven hours so that I can take another pill. Good lord, does my head ache…”

“How much port wine did we drink? I honestly can’t remember,” Hank asked as he rubbed his eyes.

“I…believe…two full bottles,” Boris guessed as he squinted and looked out the car window from behind his sunglasses.

 

The Viewing Safari was successful and everyone was able to see up close, not only the ‘Big 5’ (African elephants, black rhinoceroses, Cape buffaloes, African lions, and African leopards), but also a wide variety of other African wildlife. Trekking out early, the entourage escaped the most intense heat of that day, although the temperature climbed steadily to 100 and beyond as the day progressed. As the animals started to head into the bush for cooler temperatures and became scarcer to view, the Safari ended and they were driven back to the entrance of the Reserve.

Hank (and Udo) kept watch on Boris the entire time for signs of heatstroke and made sure he always had a bottle of citrus water in his hand. The neck cooling cloth, provided by the Safari company, also proved helpful (one was given to each person), and although Boris was very uncomfortable in the heat and was slower to move, he did not show the other signs. He did comment to Hank in private that his head still ached a ‘great deal’.

The timing was just right as they returned to the main building, which was air conditioned, for a luncheon. Boris and Hank had arranged for Udo, Khalil, and the others, as well as their two Safari Guides, Samual and Joseph, join all together for the luncheon. A keg of ice cold Carling Black Label beer was brought out in a huge metal tub loaded with ice and it was the perfect beverage to compliment the hearty lunch that was served. 

 

They said their sincere farewells to Samual and Joseph and thanked them for the amazing experience. Boris and Hank also made a sizable donation to the Reserve which prompted the staff to break into a melodious African song of gratitude.

Inside the air conditioned Mercedes and back on the road to their resort, Hank asked, “How do you feel, Boris?”

“My heads still aches, yet not like this morning; and I have only six hours to go before I can take another headache pill…” Boris replied somewhat happily, but wearily, looking at his wristwatch. 

“Do you feel warm?” Hank pressed.

“Ja, however, the coolness inside this vehicle feels good,” Boris said after he took a long drink of citrus water, “You, and Udo, have been keeping a close watch on me today, you have both been very attentive. I should like to thank you for that.”

“You noticed, huh? Yeah, we wanted to make sure you were okay and could enjoy the safari. After all, Udo said this activity was your idea,” Hank admitted.

“Eh, yes, I thought this would be something new for you and that you might enjoy it. I have done this before, but to see your expression of wonderment made this excursion even more enjoyable for me,” Boris said.

They smiled at each other with fondness.

Hank said, “Thank you, Boris, all of this has just been amazing. You are too good to me.”

 

“Udo, I should like to thank you for your care of me today, during the safari,” Boris said in earnest, when they had returned to the Suite. He placed a hand on Udo’s shoulder and looked into Udo’s eyes, “You always take such good care of me; and you take such good care of Hank, too…I do not know how I shall ever repay you fully for your kindness and your faithful service, but, if you need anything, you will ask us, ja?”

Udo looked down shyly, smiled slightly, and looked back up into Boris’ eyes, “Of course, Sir; I live only to serve you and Dr. Hank,” he then stood a little taller and stated calmly, “You have given me the opportunity to fulfill my life’s calling and I am… well cared for; I need nothing more.”

Boris smiled, tilted his head and looked at Udo with appreciation; Boris had a sudden memory of a Tibetan monk he once knew long ago who tried to teach him about service. Back then, Boris was young and brash and only half-listened, but in these few moments, Boris’ mind was filled with the lessons the monk taught him and Boris wondered if that monk had somehow been reincarnated in Udo.

Boris smiled even wider and chuckled out loud, thinking to himself, ‘That would be my luck, wise old Manju is probably following me around by way of Udo!’

“Excuse me, Sir, but it makes me happy to see you smile and hear you laugh,” Udo said gently and with a calm smile on his face.

“Well, then both of us are happy at this moment, good for us!” Boris said jovially as he patted Udo’s shoulder.

Udo bowed and left the Suite to make their dinner arrangements.

 

~~~

 

Dr. Hank insisted that they spend the next few days indoors and out of the blazing South African sun. The concierge said that the heat wave wasn’t expected to break for possibly another two or three days. Hank monitored Boris’ temperature at regular intervals because Boris felt warmer than usual, and Boris’ usual was on the cooler side. Boris was more thirsty than usual and also continued to sleep in the nude because he said he still felt too warm to wear his favored silk pajamas.

When pressed, Boris admitted that his head ached continually from the time he woke up to the time he fell asleep. Hank added ibuprofen to Boris’ small handful of daily medications. Boris asked, “May I simply take two pills at the same time every day?”

Hank also decided that they both needed to stay away from any alcohol for a few days; Boris expressed his worry that Hank would forbid coffee, too; Boris practically lived on coffee, and he especially enjoyed his double espressos. Hank didn’t tell Boris that the caffeine in the coffee was probably helping Boris’ headaches to be somewhat less for fear that Boris would increase his already heavy coffee intake. Too much of a good thing can be bad…

They postponed the visits to their winery and the mine as they waited to see what the weather would do. In the meanwhile, they enjoyed relaxing in their Suite, taking naps, and utilizing the other indoor areas of the resort. The resort had a library with chess boards and a spectacular view of the Waterfront. Just as they did in their Library at Shadow Pond, the two spent time in the afternoons in the library of the resort. The resort also had an indoor pool which pleased Boris immensely. He went swimming every day and Hank didn’t have to worry about Boris being outside in the outdoor pool under the hot sun.

 

~~~

 

After dinner in their Suite on the fourth night, Boris and Hank sat out on the terrace watching storm clouds roll in from the southeast over Table Mountain. Lightening high up in the clouds made for an awe-inspiring display and they each were enjoying their first glass of wine in that many days.

As the clouds rolled quickly towards and over them, they finished their wine, set the glasses on the table, stood up and were about to walk back into the Suite, when a rumble of thunder generated over their heads. They looked upward and the clouds opened up in a torrent of warm rain. They were drenched so quickly and so thoroughly that it seemed pointless to get under any form of cover at that point. They stood there and looked at each other, drenched to the skin and laughed. Their wine glasses filled with rain; Hank took two steps and wrapped his arms around Boris who returned the embrace. 

It continued to rain on them and in a moment of romance, they kissed each other passionately. 

Boris then spoke loudly and hoped that Hank could hear him above the sound of heavy rain as the water cascaded down his head and face, “Oh H-hank, could this moment be any more magnificent?!”

“This is amazing!!!” cried Hank as the rain made him blink hard.

They held each other close and bowed their heads so that their faces weren’t being pelted by the rain. They stayed that way for a few minutes until the rain started to feel cooler and Hank yelled, “We should go inside and get dry; I don’t want you to catch a chill!”

When Boris nodded his head in agreement, more water came off of his long hair and splashed onto Hank’s face, which made them both laugh again. They turned and went in the doorway of the tiled bathroom, stood there dripping wet and shook their heads, which made water spray everywhere in the bathroom. Hank closed the French doors and Boris grabbed all of the towels and put them in a heap on the counter. They began to remove their soaked clothing and shoes and placed all of it in the bathtub; they used every towel. Boris handed Hank his hotel robe, which he put on and Boris donned his robe as well. They mopped up the floor with some of the towels and then stepped towards each other to embrace once more.

“I just can’t believe the stuff that happens to us sometimes, Tree,” Hank said happily.

Boris looked at Hank and smiled, “Ja, I agree, my beloved One. Come; let us be comfortable under the covers on the bed. Perhaps we can make something else equally as pleasant happen now…”

 

~~~

 

Now that the heat wave had finally broken, weather in Cape Town was somewhat more tolerable but the bright South African sun continued to warm things up. Plans were arranged for the entourage to visit Boris’ (and now Hank’s, too) diamond mine. The Brilliance Mine was a little over an hour’s drive from the resort up into the hills on Route N1 in Worcester. They left after breakfast two days after the rainstorm with the hope to beat any afternoon heat.

“I am thrilled to show you, Hank, our mine and where specifically, in the mine, that the stone came from,” Boris said proudly as he admired the ring on his hand, “For some reason, it is imperative for me to show you the exact spot.”

“Are these the kind of things you think about when you are walking around Shadow Pond at three a.m.? Planning and plotting cool stuff like this? You are amazing!” Hank said enthusiastically.

 

Met warmly by the General Manager, Pieter, he and Boris shook hands vigorously and exchanged pleasantries. They conducted most of their business via phone, email and teleconference, so this personal meeting was a rare treat. Both men respected and appreciated each other a great deal. Business was very good under Boris’ guidance and Pieter’s management. 

Boris turned to Hank and smiled, then turned back to Pieter with the same smile and said, “Pieter, please allow me to introduce you to my Husband, Dr. Hank Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz.”

Hank smiled very wide, stood very tall underneath his new hat, and felt extremely proud.

Pieter and Hank shook hands and Pieter held Hank’s other arm with his other hand as if they too were old friends, “It is an honor to meet the man who has finally snared my friend, Boris, in marriage! And a doctor, no less! Marvelous! Other people have tried and all have failed; you must be an extraordinary person, Doctor. May I call you Hank? Congratulations to the two of you! Your assistant, Udo…hello dear friend! (Pieter waved at Udo and Udo bowed) …tells me this is your honeymoon! Splendid! Ah! Let me see what our rock turned into on your wedding rings…”

Boris and Hank both held out their hands to show Pieter their rings.

“God’s Blood! I knew that rock would be fantastic, but your jeweler took it one step further! What magnificent rings! Congratulations, once again on your nuptials, gentlemen! Come inside now, we need to open a bottle of something to celebrate…” Pieter said as he placed his hands, one on each of their shoulders and guided them into the main building. Everyone else followed eagerly.

After an hour of reminiscing, three bottles of champagne shared by all and a tapas-style feast set for all, as well as Boris then re-introducing Khalil and Daniel to Pieter and also introducing Misha, Efraim, Frank, Catherine, and Anthony. Pieter joked with Boris, “But who is minding Shadow Pond? Udo, come over here and partake, please!” Boris, Hank, and Udo sipped lightly on the champagne.

The next activity was for everyone to put on hard hats, leaving their hats on a long table, and follow Pieter into the quarry. Khalil and his team instantly became on high alert - you could feel their energies change in a split second. 

Hank walked close to Boris and Pieter and Udo was two steps behind them. It had become extremely warm outside, again, and they were walking in the full sun; Hank and Udo exchanged glances and watched Boris closely. Heat was now radiating off of the quarry floor and off of the walls in shimmering waves; the situation could be described as simply an oven. Udo had pressed upon everyone to each carry a bottle of citrus water with them, and he had a satchel slung from his shoulder which had four extra bottles for Hank and Boris at the ready. 

Pieter explained the workings of the mine and described the equipment that they saw as they walked. Pieter also had his own security force stationed at intervals along the walkway and throughout the vast working area. He led the group to an indent in the quarry wall which had a sign in several languages posted before it: Special Section, Do Not Drill Here.

Pieter stopped in front of the indent and turned to face Boris and Hank (and the group), holding out his hand in the direction of the indent, “Here is the spot where the rock was located that is now in your rings. I know, it is nothing special looking and it is certainly not a shrine, hahaha! The quality of that rock is the highest quality we have located so far here; and we were asked by Boris to not excavate this area until you both…” Pieter looked at Hank and Boris directly, “…could view the spot for yourself. Boris has given us instructions that after today, we can begin to excavate here and if that rock is any indication of the quality of stone in this area, we shall be very successful in bringing higher quality diamonds to market and add to our company’s profitability and world-wide respect!”

Boris applauded and the rest of the group followed. Pieter bowed slightly and smiled widely. Boris and Hank looked at each other, smiled and nodded.

There was a sudden rumbling sound and a spray of pebbles and dirt fell from above; everyone moved quickly against the quarry wall and a fraction of a moment later, several boulders came crashing down to where they had all been standing. Boris had reached out his arms, and cane, in a movement of protection and pushed Hank and Udo behind him and more flat against the quarry wall. Khalil and Daniel had made the same movement with everyone else and Misha, who was closest to Pieter, did the same with Pieter as well.

Once the dust settled, everyone looked to see several large boulders broken into large pieces by the impact on the quarry floor in front of them. Khalil and his team went into overdrive as did Pieter’s security team. After several minutes, Pieter’s security chief radioed to Pieter and assured him that there was no one involved; the teams had quickly scoured the upper ledges, and determined that the rainstorm earlier in the week had also weakened that section of the wall and that this was the third such collapse in the quarry since then.

“Is everyone UNHARMED?” Pieter asked sincerely and eagerly.

They all looked at each other and were relieved to learn that no one had been injured. 

“My sincerest apologies; this is what happens in quarries, hence the need for hard hats!” Pieter hit the top of his hard hat forcefully three times with his hand trying to be comical. Inside, Pieter was frantic about what just happened; if anyone had been injured he would have never forgiven himself.

Khalil made hand motions for everyone to step further away from the quarry wall and into a more open spot, and as they gathered, Khalil walked up to Boris and Hank (Udo was two steps behind them) and quietly asked them, “I have concern for everyone’s safety right now, Sirs, may we return to the main building at this time?”

Boris and Hank nodded at the same time; Boris then turned and said politely, “Ja, Pieter, thank you for the tour and the…eh, excitement. I have found that I do not do well in this heat, may we return to the coolness of the building?” 

Truthfully, Boris didn’t need to use Khalil’s safety concern as the reason to return to the air conditioned building; he truly wasn’t feeling well at all, and used his weakness to politely request an exit of the quarry without injuring Pieter’s pride. Boris didn’t want Pieter to think they felt unsafe, it would have hurt Pieter’s feelings too deeply as he knew that Pieter took great care in maintaining safety at the quarry.

At that moment, Udo (with a concerned expression) handed Boris a bottle of citrus water, which he drank from immediately and nodded gratefully to Udo; Hank held Boris’ wrist and took his pulse. Udo had also carried Hank’s medical bag and now Hank retrieved the temperature gauge device from it and used it on Boris as well.

Hank said as he looked up at Boris, studying his face closely and not liking what he saw, “Your pulse is elevated and so is your temperature, we should get you inside. Does your head ache?”

Boris said weakly, “It has never stopped.”

Pieter said with concern, “Yes, of course, come, we have some chilled fruit juice to refresh ourselves with after walking around all of this dust and dirt,” as he walked close to Boris and Hank as the group returned to the main building, “Will you be all right, Boris? You do look pale.”

“Ja, I will be; Pieter, I had an attack of heatstroke earlier this week and have been struggling with it since,” Boris tried to sound reassuring, “Hank and Udo take such good care of me, I shall be forever indebted to them.”

“I now recall when you were here two years ago, Boris, the heat was not kind to you then either,” Pieter said sadly, then tried to lighten the mood as they entered the building, “Dr. Hank, is my friend here a good patient?”

Hank smiled, even though he was concerned about what Pieter just said, and said, “Well, most of the time he is, Pieter.”

Boris feigned insult and they all laughed.

Inside the building, Boris took off his hard hat and his hair was damp, more than anyone else in the group. Hank and Udo were very concerned.

They all enjoyed the very cold fruit juices that were served and talked a little more. Boris declined the juice and drank from a second bottle, then a third bottle of the citrus water that Udo handed him.

“Well, Pieter, I believe that we must say farewell for now; thank you very much for everything. You are, as always, a gracious host, a good friend, and an expert manager. Again, I greatly value our friendship and business relationship; if you need anything, you know how to contact me,” Boris said as he stood up slowly and used his cane, and then reached out to embrace Pieter firmly. Boris put on his fedora and his sunglasses.

The group gathered, exited the building and walked to the vehicles; Pieter walked Boris and Hank to their car, Udo was right behind them.

Pieter looked at Boris seriously and asked, holding their handshake with his two hands just a little longer, “You will be all right, won’t you, Boris?”

“Ja, Pieter, life is good and complete for me now. I have my Husband, Hank, by my side. This health issue is truly nothing; please do not worry about me. We will be here in South Africa for a little while longer; I shall let you know when we have returned to Shadow Pond. Please remember that our door is always open should you come to the States,” Boris said sincerely with his usual slight smile, sensed his friend’s distress and hoped that he alleviated it somewhat with the honesty.

Hank helped Boris into the Mercedes, then shook hands with Pieter, who held the handshake longer, and said, “Please take good care of Boris for me, Dr. Hank, he is so valuable and extraordinary, we all need him.”

“Don’t worry, Pieter, I will, I promise. Yes, we all do need him. Come see us soon, okay?” Hank said warmly and got into the car.

Pieter closed the door and patted the roof of the car, then stepped back and watched the three vehicles drive away. Pieter felt true concern for Boris, but then thought of both Hank and Udo caring for his friend, which was not the case two years ago, and felt a little relieved. He would make Boris proud with his continued expert management of the Brilliance Mine.

Inside the sedan, Hank asked, “How do you feel, Boris?” Hank had removed his hat from his head, and also Boris’ hat from his head, as Boris had not done so yet, and placed them both on the seat. Boris’ hair was still damp; his skin was hot and dry.

“Verrry tired, I wish to rest a mom…ment now, Haaank, is that all right?” Boris asked quietly as he leaned his head against the seat back and closed his eyes.

“Of course, Boris…” Hank started to say and then noticed that Boris had already fallen asleep, his head leaned to one side. Hank sighed, took Boris’ sunglasses out of Boris’ now open hand which rested on his lap, and looked at his Husband with concern. 

Hank picked up the car phone and said softly, “Hi, Udo, yeah, Boris just fell asleep; no, don’t worry, he’ll be fine…really. Yes, it is cool enough back here…no, we don’t need to take him to the hospital. What is our ETA at the resort? An hour and a half, okay…I’ll make sure he’s comfortable. Yes, I see the other water bottles back here; and when he wakes up, I’ll have him drink some water…yes, Udo, he is going to be okay. Can we postpone any other activities for a few days? What? Oh, we have only the winery visit left to do, hmmm, is that indoors? Good, well…uh, tomorrow? No, we need to move that out at least 3 days, maybe 4, uh huh, let’s make it 4 days. Yes, I need to get a handle on this heatstroke and need him to stay indoors completely for now. Okay, thank you, Udo, for your help. Yeah…let me know when we are 15 minutes from the resort. Thanks.”

Hank wasn’t about to tell Udo – yet – and certainly not over the car phone, that Boris had admitted to the continual headache that he was experiencing since the first heatstroke episode. Knowing that would have sent Udo over the edge and Hank would have to care for Udo as well.

As Hank watched Boris sleep, he formulated a plan on what he wanted to do with Boris to get this issue resolved so that Boris could enjoy the rest of his own honeymoon completely.

 

The drive back to the resort gave Boris time to sleep and he felt somewhat better when they arrived. He drank eagerly from a bottle of water that Hank handed him. Boris was able to walk on his own back to their Suite. 

Once there, Hank sat Boris down on the lounge chair, brought them each a glass of tea, and stated, “Okay, Boris, we need to get this overheating business under control. You should not be suffering so much. Will you work with me and accept my instructions?”

Boris looked at Hank seriously and said, “Ja, I do not enjoy being so uncomfortable. What would like me to do?” Boris rubbed his forehead obviously annoyed with the headache.

Dr. Hank began, “Well first, you are not going anywhere outside for the next four days. You need to be out of the sun and in a completely climate-controlled situation; no more outdoor excursions for a while. I have already postponed the visit to Elegante Wyn. You should only go out on the terrace after the sun has long set. You need to continue to hydrate, more than usual, and yes I know, that means more trips to the bathroom, but the alternative is worse. I don’t want this situation to become more complicated by adding a urinary infection or your organs shutting down into the mix. I’m not going to cut you back on your coffee, but you need to be drinking more water or this herbal tea to counter the diuretic nature of coffee. No more wine for the next few days, either. During each afternoon, after we return from the Library and before dinner, I’d like to hook you up to an IV and push fluids as well as liquid ibuprofen into your system directly. I know you feel ‘naked’ when you don’t wear a suit and tie, but for now, you need to only wear light-weight clothing.”

“Go on,” Boris said attentively, but sadly, as he removed his jacket and tie, folded and laid them neatly beside him on the chair and unbuttoned the top five buttons of his dress shirt, “I suppose I should not have worn this to the mine.”

“I hate to say I told you so…”Hank said gently, and continued, “at least we wore our hats - that was a good thing when we were out in that sun; although those hard hats were awful. How warm is the indoor pool water here?”

“Eh, not like bath water warm, when I enter the pool, it feels cool against my skin, almost chilly; it actually feels quite nice. Please tell me that I can continue swimming,” Boris asked.

“Yes, you can keep swimming, but no trips to the sauna or steam room, you can dry off lightly with a towel but let the moisture mostly evaporate off of your skin, that will help cool you down as well. Also please take cooler showers now. At night, we should turn the air conditioning to be a few degrees downward. You should get back to the point where you feel comfortable wearing your silk pajamas again; the silk is actually good for your skin, very breathable material and it helps regulate body temperature,” Hank paused and took a drink of the tea.

Boris was looking at Hank with a chagrined expression on his face and said, “Thank you, my beloved One, I will follow your directions precisely,” then he looked around and stated, “I think I shall go take a shower now and change into fresh clothing. Perhaps when I am finished, we could sit and have an afternoon snack with our coffee? I feel like I should eat something.” He finished his glass of tea.

Hank remembered that Boris had eaten sparingly off Pieter’s tapas spread, “You’re actually hungry? That’s good news, sure, a snack sounds great! I’ll set something up for us and have it ready by the time you’re dressed,” Hank said cheerfully, and then added, “Don’t worry, Boris,” he smiled charmingly and held Boris’ hand, “Everything, including you, will be okay.”

Boris looked down at their hands, nodded, then stood up, released Hank’s hand, picked up his jacket and tie and walked into the bedroom.

Hank sat there for a moment and looked in the direction of the bedroom doorway after Boris had walked through it and out of sight. He wasn’t as worried about Boris now as it seemed they would get through this together, Boris would comply with his directions. Hank noted to himself to talk with the concierge of the IV supplies he needed and he remembered that he had to also help Udo calm down about all of this because if he didn’t, that would upset Boris. Hank did not look forward to telling Udo about the IV, that meant he’d have to be transparent about the headaches. But Udo really needed to know everything. 

Hank also decided he would make this temporary exile-from-the-outdoors for Boris as pleasant as he could so that Boris would be better on all levels. Hank guessed, by the expression that was on Boris’ face a moment ago, that Boris probably felt now that he was ‘tainting’ the trip personally. Hank said quietly to himself, “Oh, I’m gonna put a stop to that right away.”

 

Boris stood very still in the shower, the cooler water drenching his naked body from head to foot and he thought about what Hank said and became determined to follow his orders exactly. Boris felt that HE was now getting in the way of them having a perfect honeymoon and he frowned at the thought. ‘Damnation to this heat!’ Boris thought angrily, ‘Damnation to my physical frailties!’ Boris clenched his fists in frustration. 

Boris thought: ‘Pieter was right about the last time.’ Boris had forgotten about his last visit to South Africa, all of that uncomfortable heat and how seriously ill he had become at that time. ‘So much worse then, than now,’ Boris recalled as he remembered the more violent symptoms (the vomiting and the seizures) and the visits by the resort’s on-call doctor which he experienced of the heat stroke back then; and then a moment later, he felt calming gratitude for Hank’s guidance. 

Boris washed his body and as he rinsed off he visualized the current troubles being rinsed away from him; he shut the water off, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his trim waist. He would try this evaporation method of drying his skin as Hank directed and actually felt it somewhat refreshing him. “Huh, this feels nice,” Boris said to himself as he brushed his hair and studied himself in the mirror. Boris sighed.

 

After changing into cream-colored trousers and a pale green, short-sleeved linen camp shirt, Boris walked bare-footed out into the lounge area to see his husband sitting on the couch next to the bookcase as he waited for him. Hank had a big smile and showed with outstretched forward hands, the snack he had gathered from the kitchen: a platter of stone ground crackers and different spreads, a variety of nuts, as well as some fruit, all which was on the coffee table in front of him. And, there was coffee. Boris then couldn’t help but smile, too. 

Hank had also removed his socks and shoes, changed into a fresh blue cotton shirt, and had washed up quickly in the other bathroom because he wanted to give Boris time to himself. Hank felt positive and wanted that energy to be felt by Boris; he knew Boris needed it.

Boris walked over to the couch and sat down, admired the platter, then leaned over to place his hand on Hank’s neck and looked into Hank’s bright blue eyes and said, “Good lord, you are such a delightful man, Hank. I do not know how this happens, but I find that I adore you more with each passing day.” 

“I love you back,” Hank said and leaned in to kiss Boris tenderly.

They touched foreheads and stayed that way for a moment. Hank thought that Boris felt warm.

 

“What did you say, Sir? The Master is having headaches and needs an IV? Oh, dear…” Udo said with a shake in his voice.

“Udo, listen to me, come on, look at me; yes, that’s it, now remember, this would be a lot worse if we don’t take these measures, okay? I need you and I need you to be strong, okay?” Hank stood in front of Udo, in Udo’s room, as he held onto Udo’s upper arms and explained these developments. Hank thought that if he talked to Udo, on Udo’s turf as it were, that he could help Udo calm himself. 

(Boris had lied down to take a nap and Hank had told him he was going to take care of some things and would return to their Suite in a short while. After the snack and coffee, Boris said he was weary and wanted to rest.)

Udo’s mind raced back to the last time he and Boris were in South Africa and he shuddered slightly… “But Sir, the last time he became ill because of the heat here, he heaved and had uncontrollable shaking, his eyes rolled back, oh goodness! He was incoherent and so miserable!”

“So you’re saying that he vomited and had seizures the last time this happened, okay, I get it,” Hank stated and inside his head, Dr. Hank was thinking, ‘Oh crap! The next step after seizures would be massive organ shut down, coma, and then…’

Hank smiled at Udo and continued, “He’s going to be just fine; both you and I are now taking care of him. Come on, breathe for me, Udo.” 

Udo took a deep breath and closed his eyes a moment. Hank released his grip on the Udo’s arms and took a step back, allowing Udo the space to center himself.

Udo opened his eyes, leveled his gaze at Hank, a confident expression returned to his face and he said, “Yes, Sir, all will be well. What may I do to assist?”

“Please ask the concierge to obtain these specific supplies for me, preferably from the Groote Schuur Hospital. It is close by and it’s a very highly rated hospital, so I know the supplies will be top quality,” Hank handed Udo a piece of the resort’s stationery with a list of the medical items that he needed, “And ask that we receive the items today, within the hour would be best. I want to give Boris the IV fluids and the liquid ibuprofen and I want to start that today. Here is my business card and a copy of my medical license if they need it. If I have to go to the hospital myself to talk with them, I will; just call me and I’ll come down right away.”

“Yes, Sir, I will go speak with the concierge now,” Udo stated, bowed to Hank and left the room.

“That’s our champion Udo,” Hank said as he, too, then also left Udo’s room to return to their Suite.

 

“Boris, wake up,” Hank said gently, his hand on Boris’ shoulder, and at the ready to move away from Boris. Sometimes, if you awakened Boris and he became startled by that wakening, he would lash out with a long arm as if protecting himself from some unknown evil.

Not this time, however, Boris was slow to wake up; he blinked his eyes as he looked at Hank but did not see him just yet. The pain in his head blinded him.

“Come on, Boris, wake up; I want to insert the IV into the back of your hand now,” Hank spoke gently again.

“Ja, eh, what is eye vee…what eye vee? Is there something wrong with my hand? Oh, ja…” he took a breath, “I remember now. Hank, my head aches so fiercely, may please I take a pill now?” Boris said in a daze.

The resort’s concierge and the hospital were incredibly quick to respond to the medical needs of their current most elite couple and Hank had all the supplies, plus a bit more, within 20 minutes of Udo making the request. The supplies came over in an ambulance with lights flashing, but no sirens; and the resort’s on-call doctor offered further assistance and would be there at their immediate request, if needed.

The shower, the food and the nap should have revived Boris, but it didn’t. Hank tried to keep the concern from his face for the benefit of both Boris and Udo. 

Hank inserted the IV into the back of Boris’ left hand, taped it down securely and used a white mesh sleeve on his hand to further set it. Hank held Boris’ IV hand gently for a moment and then placed it to lie flat across Boris’ belly. Hank stood up, moved the IV tower closer, and adjusted the drip from the bag as well as the ibuprofen level which he set at the second highest level – for now. Hank sat back down on the side of the bed where Boris was lying and watching him, and said, “You won’t need a pill; I’ve got the liquid ibuprofen being delivered into your bloodstream right now. On a scale from one to ten, ten being worse, how bad does your head feel right now?”

“Eleven?” Boris said and smiled weakly, but he was not in a daze any longer, “What happened, Hank? I felt fair before I fell asleep.”

“Your body is trying to adjust itself and I noticed that you go in and out of waves of the more acute symptoms. This is why I wanted to start this today. Those waves are getting more intense so we are going to beat them back with force, okay? Are you hungry or thirsty?” Hank asked.

“Nein. I mean, no, I do not need anything right now, I only wish my head would stop aching,” Boris said as he closed his eyes tightly and a pained expression tightened his handsome face.

“Lie quietly now, I’ll be right back, the pain should start subsiding in a few moments,” Hank said as he rose, patted Boris on the thigh and left the room.

Udo was in the doorway of the bedroom as he watched and listened, and then followed Hank into the living area of the Suite, “What may I do assist, Sir?” he asked quietly.

“We’re good now; I should have started this sooner, but that’s in the past, we are moving forward now,” Hank said also quietly, annoyed with himself.

“Would you like to have time here for the rest of the day and evening, Sir? I can cancel dinner reservations at the restaurant and cook for you both,” Udo suggested.

“Yeah, that would be good. There’s enough food in that kitchen to feed an army, thanks,” Hank said while running his fingers through his hair and then he looked at his wristwatch, “Let’s see about dinner at seven, that’s three hours from now, he will probably feel better by then; but no fancy dinner though, Udo, just some nutritious comfort food, okay?”

“Of course, Sir, I shall return at 6:30,” said Udo, he bowed slightly and left the Suite.

Hank returned to Boris’ bedside, sat down beside him and smiled at his Husband. 

Boris reached over with his other hand and held Hank’s forearm, his hand was shaking only a little bit and he asked, “Four days of this, ja?”

“At least, but, the symptoms should start to subside more quickly as we continue pointed daily care of you. Guess what? Udo is going to cook us dinner tonight,” Hank said cheerfully.

Boris’ face lit up, “I enjoy Udo’s cooking very much, this is very pleasing to hear, perhaps he will make us some soup. I think I feel the pain in my head diminishing, or am I being teased? I truly believe that I could manage the other symptoms if only my head would stop pounding...”

“No, you are not being teased, you wouldn’t believe how much pain medication is going into your bloodstream right now,” Hank replied, as he looked at his wristwatch, “Five more minutes and I have to dial it back to a human level.”

“What level is it at now…monster level?” Boris asked whimsically.

Hank laughed and his eyes sparkled, and that made Boris feel a little happy inside, “’Monster level’, that’s really funny, Boris.”

 

Hank dialed back the ibuprofen to a very low level at the five minute mark, then none at ten minutes, and then took Boris off of the IV after two hours. 

Boris sat up and smiled slightly; he looked at Hank with wide eyes and said, “Huh, my head is clear. This is splendid.”

“Great! Here drink down this glass of water, please,” Hank said, “Udo will be here in a half hour to start our dinner. Do you want to try and stand and walk around the Suite?”

Boris finished the water and placed the glass on the night stand. “Ja, and I shall need to use the facilities,” Boris replied as he stood up, holding onto Hank’s arm just in case. Boris looked around the room, took a deep breath, nodded slightly and smiled at Hank, “Thank you, I think I can manage now.”

Hank watched Boris walk into the bathroom and then set the IV tower away from the bed and against the wall. He looked out of the floor-to-ceiling window at the Waterfront while he waited for Boris.

Boris said, as he walked back into the bedroom, “You know, I feel tentative to do anything, even to move, for fear that the pain in my head will return; strange, ja?”

“Not really; but you responded really well to the liquid pain reliever. You know, at least for the first few days, we should consider using the IV more than once a day, so you can be more comfortable,” Hank was thinking out loud.

 

Udo did make them a hearty Sautéed Chicken and Roasted Root Vegetable Soup with small Conchiglie Pasta. Udo politely declined Boris’ invitation to join then for dinner as he already had dinner plans set with Frank and Catherine later that evening.

Boris and Hank continued to enjoy their meal together, and Hank was pleasantly surprised when Boris asked for a second ‘but small’ helping.

 

Later that evening, both men tucked into bed comfortably and nestled together, the air conditioning set two degrees cooler, they fell asleep and Boris slept all through the night. Hank awoke from time to time to check on Boris and was satisfied that they were on the right track.

 

~~~

 

Boris’ recuperation from the heat stroke took more than the four days Hank thought would initially be necessary. A total of six days had passed with Boris on the IV fluids/ibuprofen both once in the morning for an hour and once in the afternoon for an hour during the first three days; then as they saw progress, Hank gave Boris the IV only once in the afternoon during each of the last three days. 

Hank was very pleased to completely wean Boris off of the pain medication at that point. He had monitored the intake closely as Hank did not want further complications to arise. The other processes that Hank suggested, from Boris wearing light weight clothing to not drinking alcohol to sleeping with the bedroom at a cooler temperature, as well as Boris staying indoors, also helped with his recovery. Hank was also very happy that they had skirted around the threat of a urinary tract infection with heavy fluid intake. 

On day seven, Boris, though now most very happy that his head did not ache any longer, expressed his concern (Udo expressed the same) at how long the recuperation took and Hank reminded them both that heatstroke recovery has been known in some patients to take upwards of two months to a year. They counted themselves very fortunate.

 

During breakfast on day seven, which they enjoyed out on the terrace as it was early and only 75 degrees, and the first time Boris had actually been outside during the day, they discussed the visit to their winery and to going home to Shadow Pond.

Hank suggested that they make the visit in the morning in two days, which Boris agreed to wholeheartedly. Boris actually admitted to Hank that he had become fearful of being outside after the eleven a.m. because he felt that any heat he would experience might bring his headache back with a vengeance. Hank saw this trepidation grow and guided Boris back to logically thinking and talked about what they could do to stem any potential discomfort quickly, now that they knew the early warning signs his body showed. Boris had attempted to explain to Hank what the headaches felt like and his best description was, “…my head felt like it was being crushed under the weight of the boulders which we saw at the mine…”

 

Elegante Wyn Vineyards and Winery was settled in the beautiful green rolling hills of the Stellenbosch region of the Western Cape and was only a fifty minute drive from the Resort. Udo arranged to have coffee ready for them when they awoke and prepared for the day and breakfast to be served at the Winery at nine a.m. 

The morning was actually cool and they commented on how different (and pleasant) that felt as they exited the Mercedes and were greeted and welcomed warmly by Justine, the Proprietor. Justine was very tall (two inches taller than Boris, in fact), very lean, very graceful, with close-cropped hair, large almond eyes, and her skin was the most beautiful shade of dark chocolate. Justine wore a long bright yellow dress with side slits up to her mid thighs, large red beaded earrings and a matching cuff bracelet. 

She and Boris had known each other for over eleven years as she managed the winery for him and he had actually named the winery after her: Elegante Wyn meant ‘elegant wine’ in the language of Afrikaans.

“Greetings, Silwer heer, it is most wonderful to see you once again!” Justine said in her smooth, singsong voice. She embraced Boris and placed her left cheek first on his left cheek and then her right cheek on his right cheek and he returned the greeting. She stroked the hair at his right temple with a long finger and smiled widely. He returned the smile.

“Goeie more, (good morning in Afrikaans), Justine, you are looking as exquisite as ever,” Boris replied as he looked up into her eyes.

Immediately turning to Hank, Justine leaned down and presented Hank with the same embrace and cheek greeting, holding onto Hank moments longer than she had with Boris, “And you must be Dr. Hank Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz, my Silwer heer’s husband. Congratulations to you both,” she said and nodded in approval, “Welcome, Handsome One to South Africa; my Silwer heer tells me it is your first time on my continent.”

“Yes, it is and thank you for the warm welcome, Justine,” Hank said quietly feeling overwhelmed by her gracious, liquid mannerisms and her height.

“Come, gentlemen, let us attend to your breakfast. I have learned over the years that men are happiest when they are fed well,” Justine placed a hand on Hank’s shoulder and guided him forward. Boris followed and was amused by the attention that Justine was lavishing on Hank.

They were seated at a finely appointed table in the corner of a covered verandah surrounded by grapevines which grew up the stonework and overhead. Breakfast was very formal and Justine apologized for it saying that she knew of no other way to be.

“Hank, let me tell you that Justine has taken this place from being a decrepit vineyard and winery to a thriving, healthy and profitable one which creates, to me, the most delicious Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc wines in the world. She is both adept at viniculture and viticulture as well as managing the business here,” Boris stated. 

“Once again Silwer heer, you give me more credit than I deserve,” Justine feigned embarrassment and shyness. (She was indeed all of those things that Boris described, as well as being a shrewd business partner.) She looked at Hank and said, “My Silwer heer flatters me constantly so that he can get the best wines in our stock shipped to Shadow Pond at unheard of prices!” 

“I’m not surprised to hear that at all, Justine,” Hank said with a charming smile.

“Oooh, but you too, Handsome One, are also flattering with that radiant smile and those bright sky eyes of yours; I see now how the two of you came to be; the gods have favored you both…” Justine laughed lightly and it sounded like delicate crystal wind chimes, she continued, “I am very happy to know that my Silwer heer has finally found his soul mate; you know Hank, he has been so lonely for so long. Thank you for coming into his life and making him happy. He has always needed to be happy.”

“You know, Justine, I am very happy to be Boris’ soul mate,” Hank said honestly as he smiled and looked at Boris.

 

After breakfast, she took them on a tour of the winery building and cellars. She showed them the shipment which was being prepared to be sent to Shadow Pond within two months and asked her cellar master, Mic, to give them both a generous taste of both wines. Boris was very pleased.

Walking up from the underground cellars into the open air was a temperature shock and Boris experienced a moment of worry which he thought he kept from his expression, but since Hank and Justine knew him so well, they expressed their curiosity. It didn’t help that Boris was nearly rooted to the floor at the threshold of the cellar and didn’t step outside.

“Boris?” Hank said with concern; he walked quickly back to where Boris was standing, looked up at Boris and held his upper arms with his hands, “What’s going on? Please tell me.”

Boris blinked and looked into Hank’s eyes, “Eh…what is the temperature out there?”

“It’s not that warm, Boris, you’re just feeling the difference between the very cool cellar and the regular air, it’s okay, really,” Hank assured him gently.

“Why do you have fear, my Silwer heer?” Justine asked with genuine concern for her old friend and business partner as she too walked back to where Boris was standing and placed a hand on his upper arm.

Boris nodded to Hank as if to say it was all right for Hank to tell Justine about his recent illness. 

Hank turned to Justine, nodded and said, “Boris has recently recovered from heat stroke and is very temperature sensitive right now.”

“I understand this completely. Please wait here a brief moment,” Justine said gently, turned and walked through an open doorway. 

Boris looked at Hank and smiled very tightly. Hank nodded and showed Boris a confident expression.

Two minutes later, Justine returned and carried a small tray which had a glass of water with a wedge of lime in it and a cloth neatly folded in a shallow dish. The cloth looked moist. She placed the tray on a nearby ledge and handed the glass of water to Boris, who accepted it, smiled slightly at Justine and started to sip the water. She then took the moist cloth, unfolded it, walked behind him and placed it around the back of Boris’ neck, smoothing it gently across his neck; she placed her hands, one on each of his shoulders and gently squeezed his shoulders. “All is well, my Silwer heer, the two of us will care for you,” she said sweetly returning to face him.

“Thank you, both, I…” Boris started to say something, but stopped.

“That’s okay, Boris, really,” Hank said with a smile, and looked up at Justine, “Can we sit inside for a little while?”

“Certainly, come this way, please,” Justine motioned for them to go through the doorway she had just come out of. Boris hesitated for a moment and then followed her with Hank behind him.

 

After a short while, Boris had regained his composure. Hank and Justine worked well together caring for Boris and he only felt comfort and safety, and was not completely embarrassed. The three of them talked more, sharing stories and 30 minutes later, Hank suggested that they return to the resort. Hank explained to Justine that this was the first time that they had been truly outside for any length of time in over a week as Boris recuperated and Justine expressed her concern, and delight, that they chose to visit her after such a difficult situation.

She walked them to the sedan and they embraced once more in the manner that they had when they arrived. Boris looked up and deeply into Justine’s dark brown eyes and expressed his appreciation for her friendship and business partnership. He apologized for his weakness and thanked her for her help. She placed her hands, one on top of the other, on his chest at his heart, smiled and said, “You shall always be my Silwer heer,” and once again stroked the silver hair at his right temple.

Boris nodded and smiled back at Justine and then got into the Mercedes.

Justine also embraced Hank in the manner that she welcomed him in, holding onto him a moment longer and said, “The gods smile on us that we both know and love him; take good care of my Silwer heer, Hank, and he will take good care of you. I am always here if you should ever need my help for him, or for yourself.”

“Thank you, Justine, you are a remarkable woman. I will always do my best for him, and if YOU ever need anything, I’ll be there for you, too,” Hank said, smiled his best smile for her and got into the car and closed the door.

She waved to them as they were driven away, her long arm waving like a tree branch in the breeze.

Inside the sedan, Hank handed Boris a bottle of Udo’s citrus water and opened one for himself. They both drank.

“That was amazing, Boris, she is amazing. Can I ask you a question?” Hank asked gently.

“Yes, agreed, she is quite amazing and an anomaly in this country. She is actually a first level princess in her Maasai tribe, but has chosen to do what she does because she enjoys it and is adept at it,” Boris said, “What is your question, my beloved One?”

“What does ‘Silwer heer’ mean?” Hank asked.

“In the language of Afrikaans, it means ‘silver lord’. She had taken to calling me that when we first met, began doing business and developed the winery together; it is her pet name for me. She is completely fascinated by my silver hair, for some reason, and sensed my station in society right away,” Boris said in a reminiscent tone of voice.

“Oh, that makes sense, I like it,” Hank said kindly, “How do you feel right now?”

“I am fine actually; I…eh…over-reacted, I apologize, Hank,” Boris said quietly.

“Don’t worry, Boris, I’m just relieved you’re okay,” Hank said with fondness and placed his hand on Boris’ knee.

 

They returned to the resort and Boris asked Hank if they could take their lunch, outside, at the café, “I must become accustomed to being outside at some point, ja?”

“Sure, Boris, that’s a great idea. I’m glad to see your courage is back. It’s actually very comfortable outside right now, I wonder if the weather is changing,” Hank said as he looked up at the sky.

 

After a light and pleasant lunch, the two men returned to their Suite and Boris said, “It was, indeed, very nice to be sitting outside once again. Hank, may we talk a moment?”

Hank loved the way Boris said the word, ‘ah gain.’

“Yeah, what’s up?” Hank said; he could guess what Boris was going to say. He sat down on the lounge chair and motioned for Boris to sit with him.

Boris sat down and Hank cradled him, “I do not want to deter you from any enjoyment that you are having here, Hank, however, do you think it is time for us to return home to Shadow Pond? Am I well enough to fly? Of course, if you wish us to remain here further, we can stay for a long as you desire and I shall be happy for it,” Boris said sincerely. 

Boris didn’t want to end their honeymoon earlier than what Hank would want; for Boris the trip had been both a deep pleasure and a frustrating challenge and he felt angry about becoming ill. Boris still felt that HE had put a damper on their honeymoon and did not know how to work through that in his mind, except to remind himself that life is never perfect; but that, to him, was feeble reasoning and it didn’t really make him feel any better about what happened. He asked himself, ‘Why IS life NOT perfect?’ but he already knew the answer. Boris wasn’t sure that he would ever feel better about it and started to think that this simply was the way it was going to be.

Hank said cheerfully, “I’m glad that we’re talking about this. I know that you feel bad about becoming sick and I really wish you wouldn’t feel that way. There was nothing you could have done about it! The heat here nearly cooked you like a well-done steak, and I’m so grateful that we got through that together. We had Udo’s help, our staff, this resort and the Hospital helping, too. We had sincere and positive wishes from very close friends. We are really fortunate, you know? This whole time, we have been together – you and I – the way it is supposed to be; all twenty-something days of this trip, you and I have been together. Think about what we got to do together: we had breakfast in bed, we soaked in that awesome tub, we walked, we got drunk, we got rained on, we saw amazing sights, had fantastic experiences…” Hank laughed, “I got a new hat and you got hit on! And we met remarkable people and we had lots of private time,” Hank tilted his head as he kissed Boris behind his left ear, “I got to care for you in many ways, which always makes me so very happy. Now look at us, we are both still together, here in this beautiful Suite, we are both healthy now and…”

“And?” Boris prompted as he instantly felt more light-hearted and grateful because of how happy Hank was.

“And…” Hank tightened his embrace, “I suddenly want to make love to you right now.”

Boris turned to look at Hank as he studied his face, drinking in his bright blue eyes and felt Hank’s positive energy envelope him. 

Hank looked deeply into Boris’ grey/blue eyes and smiled.

They adjusted their positions and kissed passionately until they were breathless. Hank stood up quickly and Boris did the same. They embraced each other now fiercely and kissed again. 

Between kisses, Boris whispered, “I love you, Hank.”

Hank whispered, “I love you back, Boris.”

They stopped and looked at each other again; Hank turned and walked quickly to the bedroom, Boris followed quickly as he unbuttoned his shirt. 

As Hank entered the bedroom, he removed his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor; he quickly unfastened his trousers, paused briefly to let them slide down his legs and onto the floor; he walked out of his shoes and practically ripped the socks from his feet and the undergarment from his hips. Hank threw his clothing everywhere left and right, he didn’t care where they landed. 

Boris walked into the bedroom right behind Hank and slammed the bedroom door shut, all at once removing his shoes, socks, belt, trousers and undergarment as if he was on fire and needed them away from his body. He also left a trail of his clothing everywhere, but didn’t remove his unbuttoned shirt as he reached and grabbed Hank before Hank made it to the bed and pulled him close and wrapped his long arms around Hank completely and kissed him again. Boris was so focused at having Hank at that moment that Boris didn’t care about anything else.

They kissed each other again and again, holding onto each other tightly; Hank reached up to try and quickly slide Boris’ shirt from his shoulders and down his arms and onto the floor; Boris made a sound like, “Huh?” as he truly didn’t remember that he still had his shirt on, and wondered aloud why it was still there on his body. Hank laughed and Boris laughed as well; and then they embraced again, both fully naked now standing next to the bed. Boris reached down, kissing Hank on his chest at his heart, as he pulled the decorative bedspread off of the bed with one hand and flung it away and onto the floor; with the other hand, Boris held Hank’s lower back. Hank’s hands were buried in Boris’ hair.

Both of them were on the bed now, arms and legs everywhere; with intensity they moved, explored and connected their bodies. All twelve pillows went flying off the bed in every direction. One large pillow barely missed knocking over a lamp, one pillow slid out onto the terrace through the open French doors and three landed all the way in the closet…

 

Udo had knocked once and entered the Suite, just as the bedroom door slammed shut. He stood there in the doorway of the Suite for a moment and heard muffled sounds and laughter coming from behind the closed bedroom door. Udo smiled and backed up, locked and closed the door to the Suite in front of him. He turned and went back to his own room…

 

“What…time…is it? Boris asked breathing hard.

“…Why should…we…care?” Hank replied trying to catch his breath.

“I suppose…you are…right, my beloved One,” Boris whispered in Hank’s ear as they lay on their right sides and he molded himself behind Hank. Boris reached back with his left hand and found the cover sheet, which he brought over and across them. As Boris’ arm came around Hank again, Boris moved his hips slightly and then moved Hank’s legs slightly, “…it appears that…”

“Oh, gees, Boris…I…can’t believe you!” Hank said in amazement as Boris touched him and they both moaned at the same time…

 

~~~

 

“Good morning, Mr. Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz-Lawson, how may I assist you?” said the front desk operator.

Boris smiled, “Ja, good morning. Would you be so kind as to send up a breakfast for us?”

“Of course, Sir, do you wish to have the usual accompaniments?” she asked politely.

“Ja, double coffee, please. Eh, and also two of those croissant breakfast sandwiches, with the fried egg on them, which my Husband enjoyed the other morning,” Boris remembered how pleased Hank was to have those.

“Yes, Sir, it would be our pleasure to serve you; your server, Thimba will be there in twenty minutes; good day, Sir,” she stated pleasantly.

“Thank you,” Boris said in his business tone of voice as he hung up the phone. He looked around the Suite with a pleased expression, and then closed the open hotel robe he was wearing over his pajama trousers and tied the belt.

Hank was still asleep; Boris had slipped out of bed without waking him. The door to their bedroom was closed and Boris made no sound as he moved about the Suite. Boris felt very good that morning and he smiled in his usual slight way as he looked out onto the terrace at Table Mountain while he waited, with his arms folded across his chest and his chin up proudly. ‘What a joy to have my head without pain once again,’ he thought to himself. Boris’ mind then started to think about the trip home. He had the one remaining idea which he had wanted to include to this now end of their honeymoon, and since he was feeling healthy again, he felt enthusiastic about the idea; and he also hoped that Hank would agree to it and enjoy it. “My dearest Hank,” he said quietly to himself, “My dear Husband, Hank. How extraordinary you are…”

Boris heard four almost inaudible knocks on the Suite’s front door, turned and walked quickly to open it for Thimba. (He did look through the peephole and saw the smiling face of their favorite server.) Boris opened the door quietly and put a finger to his pursed lips to show Thimba that silence was needed. Thimba smiled widely and nodded as he rolled the cart with their breakfast into the foyer of the Suite.

“Good morning, my fine Sir,” Thimba whispered happily, “I am hopeful that you and the doctor are well and happy this glorious day!”

“Good morning, Thimba, yes, we are very well and happy this day,” Boris whispered, “Are you well and happy, also?”

“Always, my fine Sir, always!” Thimba’s enthusiasm was contagious.

Boris couldn’t help but smile and he quietly asked Thimba the same question Boris asked him every time they saw Thimba since they had arrived at the One & Only Resort (it was their ‘thing’ as Hank called it), “Will you be hunting lions today, Thimba?”

“Oh yes, my fine Sir, every day is a lion to be hunted,” was Thimba’s confident and usual answer. Thimba’s name actually meant ‘He who hunts lions’ in Swahili. Thimba (who never stopped smiling) bowed and whispered, “Enjoy fully, please!” He turned and left the Suite as Boris closed the door behind him.

Wonderful smells emanated from the breakfast cart as Boris rolled it further into the room. It was Boris’ turn to now serve Hank breakfast in bed. Boris opened the bedroom door quietly and continued to roll the cart into that room. 

Hank was still soundly asleep on the bed with only his face and his feet showing from beneath the blanket. Hank was on his belly and the left side of his face was on the bed. Boris looked at his husband fondly and then located a croissant sandwich, placed in on a small plate and set the plate on the bed a hand’s width away from Hank’s nose. Boris then quickly situated himself in a chair in the seating area of the bedroom directly across from where Hank was lying so that when Hank woke up, the first thing he would see would be the sandwich and the second thing he would see would be Boris looking at him. Boris waited.

A moment later, Hank took a deep breath and smelled the sandwich, which immediately woke him up, but he did not rise from the bed. His eyes focused on the sandwich and then on Boris.

Boris said firmly, “Hank, you have two choices: the sandwich or me.”

Hank smiled, his face still on the bed, and said, “I’ll take the sandwich.” And he was immediately smacked in the face by a small pillow which Boris threw at Hank’s head, just missing the sandwich.

“Good shot! I forgot what a marksman you are,” Hank said cheerfully as he sat up in bed, the blanket falling downward from his bare upper body and bunching up only partially around his lap.

Boris got up from the chair and came over to the bed quickly, leaned over to grab Hank’s head at the back of his neck and kissed him fiercely.

After they pulled away from each other and smiled, Hank said, “Someone’s feeling really good this morning!”

“Ja, I do not know about you, but I feel nearly reborn, that is how good I feel,” Boris stated has he straightened up and then sat on the edge of the bed to prepare their breakfast.

Hank moved to sit with his legs crossed, pushed the pillow aside, picked up the plate and started to happily eat the sandwich. He adjusted the blanket across his lap to cover his bare lower body completely as Boris turned towards him holding a cup of coffee out to him.

“Oh, do not bother to cover yourself, my beloved One, I was enjoying the view.” Boris chuckled.

“YOU are so funny, Tree, just gimme that coffee,” Hank said cheerfully as he took the cup from Boris.

They continued to enjoy their breakfast and sip on their coffees, and after few minutes, Boris asked, “Have you ever been to Morocco, Hank?”

“What? Uh, no I haven’t…Morocco?” Hank said warily.

“Ja, I should like to suggest that on our way home, we could stop in Casablanca overnight instead of going back through Lisbon,” Boris stated plainly, “Would you be up for this?”

“You’re amazing; when did you come up with that idea? Did you have a 3 a.m. stroll around the Suite or something that I don’t know about?” Hank said.

“A stop in Casablanca was actually part of the original plan, but I requested that Udo and the staff not say anything to you about it until I did; I wanted to surprise you,” Boris said with a sly smile and continued, “Captain Frank has his flight plan prepared and we have a reservation for the Imperial Suite at the Four Seasons Casablanca awaiting our arrival. All we need is to say when.”

Boris didn’t tell Hank the Imperial Suite had a floor-to-ceiling view of the Atlantic Ocean from practically every room, including the bathroom that also had a soaking tub in it; Boris wanted to surprise him further when they arrived there.

Hank finished his sandwich, took a drink of his coffee and said, “Yeah, that idea sounds terrific! You know I’ll follow you anywhere; you don’t need to ask me. Is there another one of these sandwiches over there?” He reached and put the coffee cup on the cart.

“Oh, but I do need to ask you, Hank. I would not be a good husband if I made all of the decisions for us without your input, ja?” Boris said sincerely as he handed Hank the plate with the other sandwich on it. “Would you like more coffee or some orange juice now?”

“Uh, hang on a minute, I’ll be right back,” Hank said as he put the plate down on the bed, got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom.

Boris took great pleasure in watching a naked Hank crawl off of the bed and walk across the room; Boris was eating Greek vanilla yogurt with walnuts, dried chopped apricots, and honey and the spoon he was using was suspended in mid-air between the bowl and his semi-open mouth.

Hank turned back to look at Boris before he entered the bathroom and saw Boris’ expression and the frozen-in-space spoon. Hank stood there, looked down at himself and said, “I don’t look that good, Boris, stop drooling.”

“Oh, but you do look that good to me, Hank,” Boris said simply and then continued eating his yogurt mix with a smug expression on his relaxed face.


	13. Reclamation, Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going home can be the best thing in the world.

At the three p.m. coffee time, Boris and Hank gathered their staff out on the terrace and served coffee and pastries to them all. Udo tried to help and Boris had to give Udo ‘the look’ (Hank’s words) to sit down and enjoy himself. 

They talked about the entire trip, the highlights, and the challenges. Boris sincerely thanked them all for their assistance and patience during his illness. They discussed the stop-over in Casablanca and determined that they would leave South Africa the next day at nine p.m. and would arrive in Morocco at near dawn on the following day.

Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine had been watching the weather closely and felt that the entourage would be traveling just ahead of any challenging weather patterns as the climate between the two hemispheres changed into winter/summer. 

Later that afternoon, Udo finalized the necessary arrangements for the hotel and autos in Casablanca, and Khalil took care of the security details.

Udo had also arranged a special chef’s farewell dinner for the two men that evening and there were many special elements incorporated into their dining experience. This included ‘Mac and Cheese’ for Hank – asked for by Boris, and ‘Tobiko with Raw Quail Egg’ sushi for Boris – asked for by Hank. Udo had grown to be fondly amused at the way each man asked him to arrange something for the other and tried very hard not to let the secret out to each other. 

It was a romantic dinner out on the terrace lit with only candlelight (but there were A LOT of candles) and starlight to illuminate their experience.

Later that night, as they settled into bed, Boris in his favored dark blue silk pajamas and Hank in his favored cotton sleeping shirt and pants, they quietly reminisced about the last 24 days and held each other as they drifted off to sleep. 

 

~~~

 

The Gulfstream G650 landed at Mohammed V International Airport, Casablanca, Morocco at 6:52 a.m. local time. The flight was smooth, the sun was just rising and Hank declared it to be a time warp.

“A time what?” Boris was confused and tilted his head as he asked the question.

“A time warp! That was very cool; we left Cape Town in the dark, we went to sleep on the plane, we woke up in the sunny daylight of Morocco. It was like no time had taken place at all, just a change of the location,” Hank said enthusiastically.

“Oh, what a novice traveler you are, Hank, but you are a charming one at that,” Boris teased but was so fond of Hank’s refreshing point-of-view on things.

 

Khalil’s security process kicked in once again and the plane parked at the private aircraft terminal. Khalil had a close relationship with the local police department in Casablanca and everything was secured to his liking.

It took less than an hour to drive from the airport to the Four Seasons Casablanca Hotel through the heart of Casablanca along routes A7, N11, Boulevard Ghandi in Maarif to Boulevard du Lido and finally Boulevard de la Corniche. Udo had secured three, Aston Martin Rapide S, four-door Shadow Edition sedans in Casablanca.

The sights along with way stunned Hank as he had only seen Moroccan architecture on TV travel shows and in travel magazines. As he gazed out of the window of the sedan, Hank kept saying “Wow!”

 

During the plane flight, Boris had been awake for more of the time than he was asleep. Hank slept deeply and in the dim cabin light, Boris admired his slumbering husband and thought about many things.

Boris had been in Casablanca several times and was a little disappointed that they weren’t going to take more time there. He wanted to show Hank many things in the beautiful city, as there was exquisite art and architecture, interesting cultural aspects, and fantastic food and drink there to be experienced (he thought with pleasure about ‘that little coffee house next to the National Ceramic Museum in Safi’), but Boris would save it all for another trip. He imagined telling Hank one day, ‘Please pack a bag for seven days, we are going back to Casablanca’, and Boris smiled at the thought. 

Casablanca was another ‘wild and potentially uncivilized place’ (Khalil’s words) and a return trip would require more planning for a longer stay; Boris would certainly give Khalil and Udo all the time they needed for a trip there, and, knowing Boris, he might even require the trip to be longer than seven days…

Boris idly wondered if they had done too much during their honeymoon and then, in the next moment, thought that they truly hadn’t; the ‘blasted’ heatstroke complicated things and took up too many days, and he had not planned for those complications.

Personally, Boris was actually eager to get back to Shadow Pond. He felt safest there and now wanted to return home; he didn’t tell Hank this because Hank would have insisted they leave immediately in order to make Boris happy. Boris felt he needed to re-center himself again (the illness had shaken him a great deal); the house and the grounds of Shadow Pond were his base, his temple, his comfort. 

Boris needed to go home now, but he would be patient and wait, as he always seemed to need to do for the things that were of the most value to him.

Boris also now actually looked forward to the upcoming winter in the Hamptons, even though he would have to bundle up and layer his clothing in order to keep warm. Boris recalled just how hot and uncomfortable he felt in Cape Town and shuddered slightly when he remembered how badly his head had ached. He rubbed his forehead absently thinking of the excruciating pain he experienced. Boris said quietly to himself, as he looked at his sleeping Hank, ‘Yes, Hank, I did feel like a well-done steak, you are right; the place tried to cook me...again.’ He vowed to now only travel back to South Africa during their deep wintertime, even if it meant suffering through rough traveling weather.

 

They arrived at the Four Seasons and were settled into the Imperial Suite immediately. They had only brought an overnight bag for each of them and so there was no luggage to unpack and they were left alone in the Suite after only a fifteen minutes as the Head Bellman gave them a brief tour of the rooms. 

Udo, Khalil and the others were also settled into their deluxe rooms; Boris and Hank asked for them all to relax and enjoy the resort at their leisure. Boris and Hank were set to have lunch and dinner at each of the resort’s restaurants, respectively, and Daniel, Misha, and Efraim would be their security escorts for both meals and then return to their own relaxation. The honeymooners planned to lounge in their Suite for the remainder of the time.

The entourage would be flying out at ten a.m. the next morning after early in-room breakfasts and they would arrive at the Teterboro Private Jet Terminal in New Jersey eight hours later, and then be back at Shadow Pond just in time for dinner. 

 

There was a beautiful tray of fresh fruits and a variety of nuts set on the coffee table in the living area of the Imperial Suite along with an elegantly-shaped glass pitcher of chilled mint tea. All of this they enjoyed while Hank took in the sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean as he walked through each room of the Suite admiring everything. Boris had been in the Suite before and let Hank wander on his own.

“Boris! They have a soaking tub in here!” Hank exclaimed with excitement when he walked into the master bathroom, “I know what we’re going to do! Wow, the view from here is fantastic!”

Boris smiled widely as he sat comfortably on the couch; he sipped from his glass of mint tea and snacked on some cashews, as he thought again, and with joy, that he must bring Hank back here next year for a longer stay.

Hank came back into the living area and saw Boris as he relaxed on the couch. Hank stopped in the middle of the room, looked at Boris, spread his arms out from his sides, smiled and said, “Can we come back here for a vacation next year?”

“My thoughts exactly, Hank; please, come here and sit with me,” Boris offered.

Hank did so, took a drink from his glass of tea and picked up a mandarin orange which he began to peel and eat. He looked again at Boris and said, “You look so healthy and relaxed right now; you know that makes me really happy.”

“I am, and I do,” Boris said, as he smiled slightly.

“Here…” Hank said as he held an orange wedge with his fingers and innocently offered it to Boris.

Boris leaned over and took the slice with his teeth and looked at Hank with a gleam in his eyes. He ate the orange wedge and then chuckled.

“Now just what am I going to do with you, Boris?” Hank asked, as he pretended to be exasperated.

“Now just what do you WANT to do with me, H-hank?” Boris said in a silky voice as he sat back on the couch.

“Gees, when you are healthy and happy, you are unstoppable. Am I ever going to wear you out?” Hank asked simply.

“Not as far as you know…”Boris said as he leaned over again and kissed Hank on his right temple.

 

~~~

 

Boris was quick to exit the Porsche Panamera; he stood up and looked with admiration at the entry area of Shadow Pond; ‘I am home,’ he thought to himself, and felt extremely happy inside.

Hank got out of the car next, saw Boris’ expression and smiled at him; Boris smiled in return. 

Yussef, Jon Michel, Gregor and the remaining Shadow Pond staff had gathered at the entry doors and were applauding and smiling. The day was sunny and cool and there was a slight breeze. The staff walked forward as the two men came towards the house and there were expressions of ‘Welcome Home’ in many languages and much bowing.

Chef Henri was, of course, the loudest to express his welcome and told them that dinner would be ready within one hour and served in the Parlor Dining Room.

After Boris and Hank walked into the house, the staff dispersed; the culinary staff returned to the kitchen to finalize dinner, the security teams converged and went into discussion, the housekeepers and the housemen went to unpack the vehicles, the administrative assistants met with Udo, and the remaining staff returned to their work areas.

Boris and Hank stopped a moment to gaze at their portrait in the Foyer. Boris then looked at Hank seriously and said, “I know this may sound strange to you, however, I suddenly am not concerned any longer if our staff sees us embracing, or, eh, touching…would you be agreeable to this, Hank?”

Hank smiled with a look of relief and said, “Do you really mean that, Boris? You don’t know how many times I have wanted to hold you or touch you when we’re home! I’ve always tried to hold back when we are outside of the Apartment, well, because, you know…”

“I know, I am considerably reserved and you respected that, thank you. Well, the…uniqueness of our relationship is…” Boris trailed off and then suddenly embraced Hank.

They stayed in the embrace; both men sighed deeply, and looked up at the portrait again.

“If I accidentally kiss you when we are outside of our apartment, will you get angry and banish me to sleep on the couch?” Hank asked in a tentative, yet joking, tone of voice.

“No, however I shall instruct Chef to refrain from baking your cookies as punishment,” Boris said with a smile on his face.

“Damn,” Hank said in a false expression of defeat. He looked up at Boris and smiled, “Hey, let’s go change into some fresh clothing before dinner. I wonder what Chef’s got for us tonight, I’m hungry.”

Boris nodded and held Hank a little tighter before releasing him; he said rhetorically, “Are you ever not hungry, Hank?”

They turned and walked towards their apartment.

 

Udo had come into the Foyer from behind Boris and Hank and saw them embrace. He smiled slightly and thought about how he noticed that the trip had brought the two of them so much closer together - as a bona fide, married couple. He also noticed how they would communicate with each other even more so than before, even without words at times. Udo sensed a new confidence and a new power from them both that was stronger and now completely natural.

This open display of affection was quite a change in the two men’s behavior; Udo was quite happy about that as he also felt that it was healthier for them both. Udo was certain that the staff would be hard pressed to hide their surprised expressions until they grew accustomed to the Masters of the House freely showing physical affection towards each other. 

Udo made this a mental priority that he would have a discussion with each staff member right away about this new aspect as it would be highly inappropriate for the staff to draw attention to them and potentially embarrass the Masters. Highly organized as always, Udo would speak with the culinary and serving staff first – in fact, within a few minutes - and then he would speak to security and housekeeping, and so on; in the order that the staff interacted with the Masters. Because of Udo and his professionalism, three-quarters of the staff would know what was expected of them by the end of that evening.

Udo stayed out of their line-of-sight to provide them with privacy, and looked around the Foyer after they had left it, thinking that he was glad to be home, too. He walked to his office, sat down at his desk and opened his laptop to compose and send two emails, as Boris had requested: one to Pieter and one to Justine. Udo let them both know that all was well, Boris had re-gained his health, and that they had returned home safely to Shadow Pond. He thanked them for their assistance and their consideration, wished them well and reminded them that Shadow Pond’s door was always open to them. Udo closed the laptop, stood up and walked to the kitchen.

 

~~~

 

At three a.m., Boris awoke and it took a moment for him to realize that he and Hank were truly at home. The familiar fragrance of their apartment (mostly a refreshing cedar) and the crisp feel of the bed sheets gave him a sense of comfort and he smiled slightly. Boris felt Hank, warm and solid sleeping next to him and Boris sighed very deeply. 

‘Why have you awakened?’ he asked himself silently, ‘There is no reason for this,’ and in the next moment he thought, ‘I shall let Hank analyze this, he is better at that than I.’ 

 

“There he is, the Master has returned,” Jon Michel smiled and said out loud to no one, as he was alone in the Control Room, while he watched on the surveillance cameras as Boris walked down the main corridor of Shadow Pond. 

 

Boris had put on slippers and his black silk dressing gown/robe over his pajamas and walked with slow purpose for only twenty minutes throughout a portion of the large house. Whenever Boris took his nightly strolls, he visited a different part of the house. He simply enjoyed the silence, although the big house did have its natural sounds and Boris knew every one of those sounds. On that night, Boris walked to and then into the Kitchen. 

By nature, professional kitchens are unusual when they are silent, empty and cold and he suddenly had an idea: ‘I should cook a meal for Hank one day.’ Boris chuckled out loud at that thought and the sound echoed slightly in the vast space. Then, he chuckled again as he thought how that idea would be received by Chef Henri. ‘This could be quite fun, surely…’ and he filed the mischievous thoughts away to be used at just the right time. Boris was actually quite a good cook, he simply never used his skills nor had he wanted to invade Chef’s domain.

 

Satisfied on some level (although he did not know what level that was), Boris returned to their Apartment, removed his slippers and robe and crawled gently back into bed and tried not to wake Hank. As Boris settled in, Hank said quietly, “Are you okay?”

Boris grimaced and replied equally as quiet, “Ja, I am fine. I sincerely apologize for waking you, my beloved One,” Boris snuggled closer to Hank now that Boris knew that Hank was awake. There was a slight chill in the air so he pulled up a second lightweight blanket to their shoulders.

“That’s okay, Tree. Are you happy that you’re home?” Hank asked quietly from the pillow where his head was.

“Very happy that WE are home,” Boris replied as he kissed Hank lightly behind his right ear.

“I hope you can get some sleep, Bor-…” Hank said as he drifted back into sleep.

“I shall, my love,” Boris whispered and after a few minutes, he too, fell asleep.

 

~~~

 

They had decided to ‘be different’ (Boris’ words) and take their usual ‘Library Time’ in Main Living Room the next day. The early afternoon light flooded pleasantly into the room and Boris enjoyed the way the sunlight brightened the space around them by reflecting off of the glass tables and showed the rich colors of the Persian rug beneath them.

“Hey, Bro! I just heard that you and Boris are back. Welcome home to both of you! How was, uh, wherever it was that you went?” Evan asked enthusiastically over Hank’s cell phone speaker.

“Hi, Evan! Yeah, we just got back last night. Thanks! We went to Portugal, South Africa and Morocco; the trip was AMAZING!” Hank replied loudly.

“Good afternoon, Evan,” Boris said equally as loud, “Thank you; it is good to be home; I hope you are well.”

Hank then realized just how much he missed his brother, “Hey, can I come over and visit? I miss you.”

“Yeah, it’s all good, Boris. Sure, Hank, I’ve got cold beer in the fridge and was just making some popcorn,” Evan replied.

“See you in a few minutes,” Hank said and hung up. Hank then closed his laptop and put it on the coffee table.

Boris looked up from his book at Hank over his reading glasses, “Please give Evan my best regards and do enjoy your visit.”

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” Hank said hesitantly and stood up slowly from the where he was seated at the couch.

Boris tilted his head at Hank as he read Hank’s face, “It is fine, surely.”

“It’s just that we haven’t been away from each other for more than a few minutes over the past, what, month? This is going to feel weird,” Hank admitted.

With that statement, Boris stood up from where he also sat on the couch, took his glasses off and placed them on the coffee table along with the book. He looked at Hank and without even glancing around to see if any of the staff was nearby, he first held Hank’s upper arms with his hands, smiled slightly, and then embraced Hank, holding him gently and lovingly.

Hank rested his head on Boris’ shoulder and returned the embrace and they stayed that way for a number of minutes. Hank was very happy to stay in that position and didn’t move at all.

“You should go before Evan wonders what became of you,” Boris suggested as he smiled slightly.

“Yeah, okay…” Hank looked up at Boris, smiled, released his embrace, turned and left the room.

 

“What took you so long, Bro? Did you forget how to walk here? Or where ‘here’ even was? I thought you got lost or something,” Evan play-scolded Hank, “Time to have a beer!”

The two brothers embraced each other fiercely and then Evan tried to ‘fun punch’ Hank in the arm, but Hank was fast and turned away. Hank had almost forgotten about Evan’s juvenile silliness. 

Evan had first thought to ‘fun punch’ Hank in the gut (like he used to), but then remembered at the last moment that Hank had been stabbed in the gut and changed his movement just in time.

“You seem different,” Evan stated as he handed Hank a beer and they both walked over to the couch and sat down. Evan carried an enormous bowl of fresh popcorn.

Evan already had his shoes off, Hank removed his shoes, and they both put their feet up on the coffee table at the same time.

After he took a long drink of his beer, Hank asked “What do you mean, ‘I seem different?’” 

Hank knew that he felt different, but since he couldn’t yet define that himself, he was somewhat surprised that Evan said something even similar. Hank really wasn’t in the mood to have a ‘deep personal discussion’ with Evan, those conversations always became too weird for him, after all, those conversations involved Evan. Hank now preferred to have those types of discussions with Boris; it seemed that Boris understood or thought about things in a more serious, worldly, and mature way – Hank now enjoyed that a great deal. He would always learn something new from that type of a conversation with Boris; Hank never learned anything new from that type of conversation with Evan. 

“Oh wait, it must be your ‘world traveler status’ now, yeah, that’s it; I’m not even sure I know you. Are you really my brother, Hank?” Evan said as he stared bug-eyed at Hank in jest.

Hank laughed with relief, “Yeah, I’m still Hank, don’t worry, Evan. But seriously, it was an amazing trip…” Hank went on to describe some of the things he experienced: the sights, their Suites, the safari, the winery, and the mine. 

Hank kept Boris’ heatstroke situation private – always committed to the doctor/patient confidentiality responsibility - and he thought that if Boris wanted anyone else here at home to know about it, he would tell them himself or expressly give Hank permission to say something. Boris may have opened up a bit by deciding to embrace Hank ‘in public’ (of which Hank was very happy about), but Hank knew that Boris’ privacy was still extremely vital to him and Hank wasn’t about to assume that Boris wanted to share any details about his illness, particularly with Evan.

The two brothers shared popcorn, stories, more beer, and the good-natured, brotherly ribbing that was normal for them. After four hours, Hank felt like he wanted to get back to the Main House and be with Boris. Hank now truly missed Boris. Hank wondered what Boris was doing and at one point, Evan asked Hank why he had a “…far away, almost visionary look…” on his face.

“I’m kinda tired now, Evan, jet lag still, I think,” Hank replied trying to divert Evan’s curiosity and then asked, “Are you still going to come over for our weekly lunch on Saturday?”

“Yeah, of course, I wouldn’t miss those for the world, actually,” Evan admitted, “I still think it’s funny that Boris started this Saturday lunch thing with the three of us, and not you.”

“Yeah, I was surprised, too, when he suggested it. You know he really appreciates our relationship, but I think we basically just amuse the heck out of him when you and I are together,” Hank said as he waved goodbye and walked out the side door of the Guest House. Hank was thinking, sadly, that Boris didn’t have a brother, not any longer, and that perhaps Boris was living somewhat vicariously through him and Evan.

“See ya, Saturday, Hank!” waved Evan.

 

As Hank walked towards the Main House, he started to hear music. Hank smiled; Boris was playing his cello. As he walked, Hank listened and thought that the music sounded mostly happy. He quickened his step and felt excited.

Hank made his way through the house, saying hello to the various staff members he met along the way. They expressed their relief and pleasure to him at having both of them safely at home again. The music filtered throughout the large house and everyone seemed to enjoy it. He met Udo in the hallway just outside of the Music Room and they smiled at each other and listened to Boris’ playing. 

“The music sounds happy,” Hank said quietly although he knew that only Udo could hear him.

“Yes, Sir, it is Mozart that he’s playing right now; he usually plays Mozart, sometimes Shubert and Debussy, when he’s happy,” Udo stated.

“I want to watch him play, is there another way that I can get into the room without startling him?” Hank asked politely.

“This way, Sir,” Udo motioned for Hank to follow and took Hank to a side door, which when opened, led to the Music Room just slightly behind where Boris sat and off to his left. 

Since Boris was facing the opposite direction, he didn’t see them enter, but he knew they were there. Boris’ keen senses picked up many things like this every moment of every day; sometimes this was helpful to him and sometimes it complicated his life tremendously. He was always in a state of either deciding what he should pay attention to or what to tune out completely. At the moment, it pleased to him and as Boris played, he smiled slightly knowing that Hank was now there. 

Hank enjoyed the way the music became loud when they opened that side door and smiled widely at Udo, who bowed his head and backed away into the hallway as he closed the door silently in front of him, leaving the two of them alone in the Music Room.

Hank was enthralled by the way the music filled the room and vibrated off of the wood surfaces. He leaned against the paneling and watched Boris move and sway with the music; his silver mane had become quite wild and Hank just wanted to brush that hair. 

Hank closed his eyes for a few moments and let the music surround him; he wondered why he, Hank Lawson, just a ‘guy’, just a doctor, wound up where he was standing in this magnificent home, and now married to and (because Justine had said it to be so) the soul mate to such a talented, sophisticated, complicated, equally magnificent man as Boris. Hank thought to himself and smiled, ‘I must have done something right.’

The music became a little softer and a little slower and Hank opened his eyes to see that Boris had turned his head towards Hank and watched Hank while he played. Boris smiled in his usual way and continued to play for a few more minutes, never taking his gaze from Hank as Boris finished the obviously loving tune with a gentle, lilting draw of the bow across the strings; the music faded into silence.

They smiled at each other.

“That was beautiful, Boris,” Hank said in a quiet voice as sound carried very nicely in that large room.

“Ich danke dir,” Boris bowed his head slightly accepting the praise, “Which part did you enjoy most?” he asked sincerely.

“All of it, but especially the end, was that Mozart, too? It sounded different somehow,” Hank admitted.

“Oh, eh, the last part? Well, I created that just now whilst I was looking at you,” Boris said humbly. He stood up and placed the cello and the bow carefully in its stand in the center of the Oriental rug.

Hank walked over to Boris and they looked fondly at each other for a moment. They stepped closer and embraced, but not fiercely, the gentle music had soothed them and they were simply happy to be together.

“Chef has held dinner for us until you returned; I believe that you shall get your wish tonight; he has made you his version of your ‘Mac and Cheese,’” Boris said quietly.

“No way!” Hank exclaimed as he pulled back slightly and looked at Boris with joy on his face.

“Eh...Yes, way! Is that the correct response?” Boris asked tentatively and tilted his head.

Hank laughed heartily, “I just love it when you learn how to speak American slang! You look so confused!”

 

~~~

 

“Is your razor broken, Hank?” Boris asked one morning as he looked in the mirror and pulled the straight razor upward on his left cheek. Boris was one of those men who preferred the old-fashioned method of shaving; one which included the use of a straight razor and shaving soap whipped up in a shaving mug using a shaving brush. Boris was meticulous in his daily grooming habits and used the best quality implements available. His straight razor had a square point blade and was made of the best Austrian steel; the handle was made of Rosewood from Madagascar as was the small chest that held his custom shaving kit.

For the last six days, Hank had not shaved and the dark brown hair on his face was quite noticeable now. Hank finished brushing his teeth and replied, “No, my razor is fine.” (Hank used disposable razors.)

Boris had not said anything about it until Hank’s beard actually filled in somewhat and now Boris’ curiosity needed to be satisfied. Boris turned and looked at Hank, the lower portion of his face, except for his lips and his silver circle beard, was half covered in shaving cream; he waved his straight razor in the general direction of Hank’s face and asked, “Then, what is this all about?”

Boris’ eyes took on the ‘laser beam’ quality that Hank described of them whenever Boris required an answer.

“Oh that, well, its wintertime and I grow a beard in the winter,” Hank said plainly as he brushed his hair.

“Oh, do you now?” Boris tilted his head somewhat. That movement too, along with the ‘laser beam eyes’, was part of the ‘Boris Wants An Answer Now’ behavior that Hank had learned quickly since he had started living with Boris.

Boris studied Hank’s face with a growing amused expression. Both men locked gazes and their eyes were bright. “Does this scruffiness evolve into a fashion model look or an ascetic hermit look?” Boris asked with the expectation of receiving an answer.

“Which would you prefer?” Hank teased and now it was his turn to wear a smug look on his face as he leaned his backside against the vanity and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“That is a very good question. Since I have not seen either of these looks upon you before, I am not certain that I can choose properly. Although as I say this, and I look at you, I believe that I would prefer the fashion model look,” Boris replied as he faced the mirror again and continued his shaving routine, “You are far too handsome to hide behind a thick beard.”

“Gio has offered to shape and trim it for me,” Hank stated innocently rubbing his whiskered face with his hand.

Boris stopped in mid-upward motion with the blade across his neck and his eyes flashed at Hank by way of his reflection in the mirror. Boris’ energy changed completely in that moment.

Hank wasn’t sure why what he just said would provoke that kind of a stare from Boris, but Hank felt suddenly tense.

Boris finished shaving and said calmly but with edge to his voice, “You are telling me that Gio knows about this before I do?” He turned on the water at the sink and bent over to rinse his face and his razor. Boris turned off the water, laid his razor aside to dry, and then took a towel, and dried his face as he turned to look at Hank again, “Who else knows?”

Hank said quietly, “Udo.”

Boris folded the towel neatly and placed it on the counter and said, “Huh…I see,” Boris turned again to the mirror, looking at himself and inspecting his face; he opened a bottle of Sandalwood After Shave Balm, and placed a small amount in his palm which he then rubbed gently on his freshly shaved skin.

Hank came over to Boris and looked up at him with his most charming smile and asked, “Are you angry with me?”

“I could be, as I am the last to know about this. Am I no longer important?” Boris said as he recapped the bottle, placed in on the counter with a little pout to his face and then turned and wrapped his arms around Hank. 

Hank wrapped his arms around Boris and said, “I’m sorry. I should have said something to you. Would you let me grow it out and then if you absolutely don’t like it, I’ll shave it off right away.”

Boris looked into Hank’s eyes for a long moment, admiring the different shades of blue within them. Boris’ eyes appeared to be silver in the bright bathroom light as he focused on Hank. Boris then smiled in that slight way that was his own and with a serious tone said, “You know that I cannot deny you any request which you pose of me, my beloved One. Do you realize what power you have over me?” he paused for effect and then continued, “Do you understand that no one has ever been able to do this to me before you? Do you feel the burden you carry with this knowledge?” he paused again, “Your smooth skin is an absolute delight to me,” Boris ran the long fingers of his right hand along Hank’s unshaved cheek, “This feels so…different. Perhaps I shall find that you will become even more handsome to me, yet I do not how this is possible; but I will learn to accept your winter habit…for now.”

Hank then said, with a grave expression, “You know that I would never take advantage of you, Boris…right?”

“I know,” Boris said with complete confidence, “and never I of you.”

The embrace they were in immediately became stronger and then there was a kiss; a deep passionate kiss.

Boris said in Hank’s ear, “I suppose we could arrive a bit late for breakfast, ja?”

 

~~~

 

During one rainy Saturday afternoon in early November, Evan came over for the weekly lunch with Hank and Boris. Evan tried his best to stay dry (which for Evan wasn’t a very good try), because he always forgot to carry an umbrella with him when the weather turned inclement. He arrived at the Main House very soggy, because he had gone the outside way and not through the interior corridors – Evan refused to go through what he called ‘the tunnels of Shadow Pond’. Evan thought getting wet was funny (and Evan thought that everyone else would think it was funny, too) as he exclaimed that he had just walked over from the Guest House and didn’t think that he would get that wet.

Hank loudly scolded Evan, “YOU are such a PUTZ sometimes, Evan! I know there are at least three umbrellas at the Guest House! Big umbrellas that can keep you dry in the rain! What about wearing a raincoat? Or any coat, for that matter?! It is 47 freaking degrees outside, Evan! What if you catch a cold or develop bronchial pneumonia? Then what? Of course, I would take care of you, but I would be so angry about it! Do you know that you’re NOT supposed to piss off your doctor?! You have GOT to start taking better care of yourself, YOU are NOT immortal!”

Udo quickly had two housekeepers bring Evan some large, heated bath towels and they escorted him to a Guest Bath Room to further dry off with a hand-held dryer.

While Evan was in the Bath Room, Hank looked at Boris (who had not said a word during the scolding but watched from a discreet distance) and said in exasperation as he paced back and forth, “That brother of mine sometimes just gets me so angry, I just wish he’d be more responsible and grow up!” 

Hank’s eyes were a blazing shade of blue and Boris counted himself fortunate that Hank was not angry at him. Boris recalled when, what seemed so long ago now, when Hank was angry at Boris for not taking care with his health. Although Boris was certain now, that he could calm Hank’s anger with the right words and a loving touch, if that ever became the case again; but Boris decided he would not ever ‘anger the doctor’ again. 

Boris nodded his head and said, “He certainly does not realize how much you care for him, or you would not be so enraged; if I may say so, it is good that you are scolding him, he may learn a lesson today, ja?” Then in an attempt to bring some positive energy into the moment, Boris offered, “I have been told that we are being served a hearty stew for lunch today: Paprikás Csirke, er, I mean, Hungarian Chicken Paprikash, I believe that should warm Evan up quickly.”

Hank stopped pacing, closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath. He was so upset at the moment and his mind could only think of how ‘stupid’ his brother could be. Hank took another deep breath and then opened his eyes to see Boris smiling kindly at him. Boris had taken a few steps closer to Hank and when Hank looked up at him, Boris placed his hand gently on Hank’s neck in a calm, familiar, and supportive manner. Hank then placed his hand on Boris’ upper arm and they looked at each other fondly; Hank nodded his head as if to say, ‘Thanks’. Boris nodded as if to say, ‘You are welcome’.

Just then, Evan began to walk into the Parlor Dining Room and started to say, “Get a room…” when he saw Hank and Boris touch one another.

Hank cut him off completely; Hank didn’t look at Evan, but pointed to him with his other hand as his eyes never left Boris’ eyes, but Hank coldly said, “Evan…Don’t…say…anything…right…now.”

Evan’s mouth closed shut and he remained standing in the doorway of the room afraid to enter until he was given permission to enter by someone, anyone. Evan knew he had messed up. 

Evan still wasn’t accustomed to seeing Boris and Hank touch one other ‘in public’ as they had started to do. Evan had even seen them embrace as few times since they had returned from their honeymoon, and Evan simply didn’t know what to do with this. The movement was always a ‘Boris and Hank-respectable’ kind of embrace, but it was also beyond what Evan thought of ‘two guys giving each other a welcome hug’ kind of embrace. Of course, Evan knew that Hank and Boris were married but seeing their more open physical affection for one another now had begun to stir up in Evan’s mind that things were very different. Evan thought to himself, quoting a line from the movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’, “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.”

After a moment, Hank and Boris released their hold and Hank turned towards Evan. Boris also looked at Evan but with a slightly wary expression. 

Hank’s eyes drilled into Evan; he took another deep breath and asked sternly, “Are you dried off now?”

Evan looked at the floor and said quietly, “Yes.”

“Good, now get over here so we can have our lunch. What did you say we were having, Boris?” Hank said while he softened his voice and his expression to look back at Boris and away from Evan.

Boris paused a moment, grateful for Hank’s change in energy towards him, and then answered, “A type of chicken stew with Hungarian spices and potato dumplings.”

“Okay, that sounds nice,” Hank said lightly; Boris could tell that Hank was trying to lift his mood.

The three of them walked over to the table; Boris sat at the head of the table, as usual, and Hank sat to his right (now as usual), and Evan sat directly across from Hank. 

Evan looked around as if he was trying to find for another place to sit – he felt he was sitting too close to his still angry brother, but Evan’s place setting was already there. Evan was trapped (Hank and Boris looked at each other and their eyebrows went upward at the same moment) and as he sat down, Evan said sincerely, “Uh, I am very sorry for causing this problem; I will not let this happen again, I promise.”

“Did our staff provide you with what you needed to…eh…dry off?” Boris asked graciously.

“Oh, yeah, they were great, as always, thanks, Boris. Hank, really, I apologize for making you mad,” Evan said gently.

Hank looked at Evan, and he blinked but said nothing.

Their two servers, Marie and Angela, came forward at Boris’ hand movement to bring the lunch to the table. Boris said to Marie, “Marie, please have Patrice bring up a Cabernet Franc to pair with this meal.”

“Certainly, Sir, at once,” she replied, bowed slightly, turned and left the room.

Within moments, the salad and bread service was served to the three men; and a few moments later, Patrice opened and poured the wine.

To Evan, every time he dined with Hank and Boris, it was like he was at a 5-star restaurant. He felt that he needed to be on his best behavior, use the correct fork, and not make odd noises at the table. It was only after the meal, when they would ‘adjourn to the seating area for coffee and dessert’ (Boris’ words) did Evan feel like he could relax and be more like himself. That’s when the conversation usually became lively and more comfortable – at least for Evan. 

On this day, Evan watched Boris’ mannerisms; Evan was especially impressed with the slight hand motion which Boris made that meant (in Evan’s way of thinking) for suddenly-staff-to-show-up-from-out-of-nowhere-and-serve-them. Evan now also noticed that Hank’s mannerisms were more refined as well. Evan thought to himself, ‘When did that happen? Hank IS different now that he’s married to Boris.’ At one moment, Evan thought back to the day after Hank and Boris returned from their honeymoon and Evan had lightly commented to Hank about Hank being ‘different’. A light bulb in Evan’s mind went off and he thought, ‘Did Hank grow up and I didn’t?’

Boris was talking, “…What type of automobile are you most fond of, Evan?” He paused as Evan appeared to be more interested in a candlestick in the center of the table. Boris looked at Evan, tilted his head, and patiently asked, “Pardon me, Evan, is there something wrong with your meal? I can have Chef Henri prepare something else for you, if you wish. You have also not touched your wine, would you like something else to drink?” Boris suggested politely.

Evan shook off his distraction and replied sheepishly, “Uh, no, Boris, this is fine, no, it’s actually really good; I’m sorry, I was thinking about something. That was rude of me, sorry. What were we talking about?” 

Hank hadn’t said much during the early part of the lunch as he was still quite a bit angry with Evan. The stew had just been served and Hank now said, only feeling annoyed with Evan, “We were talking about cars, Evan.” 

Hank made a mental note to thank Boris later for being the perfect host – as he always was – by appearing that nothing negative had happened and how he maintained a sense of harmony during the meal with pleasant conversation.

“Oh, uh, yeah, cars,” Evan said, “I usually like them fast and hot-looking.”

“Huh. I see,” Boris said simply. Boris had an idea in his head that he was going to give the Porsche Panamera to Evan, if he wanted it; because now that he and Hank had purchased the new Bentley Continental GTC (similar to the one they leased in Lisbon), they were in no need of the Porsche any longer. Boris had not told Hank about this idea and thought it would be a pleasant surprise for the brothers to learn of this idea at the same time – during lunch. However, due to the tension between Hank and Evan that afternoon, Boris thought it best to wait until Hank had calmed down fully to discuss it with him only first. Boris also felt that Evan would not want the Porsche now because, even though the car was certainly powerful, Boris thought that Evan wouldn’t think it was ‘hot-looking’ enough (‘Whatever that meant,’ Boris wondered to himself) for Evan’s preferred style.

Lunch continued; Evan became more attentive, and Hank calmed considerably, however the usual liveliness and banter of the brothers never surfaced that afternoon. When Boris suggested coffee and dessert in the seating area, as he always did, Evan said that the stew had filled him up and he would like to ‘take a rain check’. 

“Funny, Evan, really funny,” was Hank’s flat reply.

The three of them exchanged farewells; and Udo gave Evan both an umbrella and a raincoat – the latter, of which Evan promptly put on, buttoned up, and then he left the Main House quickly and returned to the Guest House, thinking, ‘I don’t know how I can do this, but I’m never going to piss off Hank like that ever again...”

Hank said, after Evan had left the Dining Room, “I’ll have coffee and dessert with you, Boris.”

Boris smiled slightly, made another hand motion, and then guided Hank to the seating area. They both sat down and soon cups of coffee and cinnamon apple-filled pastries were served to them.

Boris watched Hank and gauged his feelings; Boris kept the conversation light and at times, there was no conversation. At one point, Boris reached over and placed his long elegant hand on Hank’s forearm in a gesture of unconditional support. Boris felt badly for Hank as he knew that Hank was working through many things in his mind; Boris asked gently, “What would you like to do this afternoon, Hank?” Boris hoped that Hank would respond in a manner that Boris could then suggest that they could go for a drive, or something equally distracting.

“You know, I think I’m going to do some work in the Infirmary for a few hours, is that okay with you?” Hank asked.

“Of course, as you wish,” Boris replied calmly as he had also suspected that Hank would want some time to be alone with his thoughts.

Hank rose from the couch, looked down at Boris, smiled slightly with weary expression on his face and said, “I’ll see you in a little while.”

Boris looked up and smiled reassuringly at Hank.

Hank turned and walked out of the Parlor Dining Room.

Boris had another cup of coffee served to him as he continued to sit in the seating area for a while, simply thinking. Boris recalled the phrase he had heard once of ‘you can’t choose your family’ and thought about how true that was, indeed, how painfully true that was. 

 

Hank returned to their apartment five hours later. He walked in and saw Boris standing by the windows apparently watching the rain. Boris had his arms crossed in front of his chest and was smoothing his circle beard in contemplation. Boris turned when he heard Hank close the door and their gazes met. They walked towards each other quickly and embraced each other tightly.

Boris had made a fire in the fireplace and it warmed and scented the large room nicely. The fire crackled; the sound echoed slightly. Hank’s head was on Boris’ shoulder and Boris’ chin was against Hank’s head. They both sighed at the same time.

Boris stroked the beard on Hank’s cheek (he was still getting used to Hank’s ‘fashion model’ winter beard) and said, “Is there anything which I may do for you, my beloved One?”

“You’re doing it right now. I just love being with you, Tree,” Hank said quietly, “I feel better now, thank you for letting me work alone.”

“Surely, you shall never need my permission to do whatever makes you happy and allows you to re-center yourself; know that I shall always be here for you, no matter what,” Boris said gently.

“I appreciate that very much. Um, I have an idea,” Hank said, almost sounding cheerful.

“Hmmm?” Boris said, his eyes were closed and he continued to enjoy their embrace and the peppermint fragrance of Hank’s hair.

“Let’s have dinner in the apartment tonight, put on a little music, enjoy the fire, and just be together. How does that sound?” Hank asked with hope.

Without letting Hank go, Boris took his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed Udo…

 

~~~

 

“How does this work now?” Boris asked curiously one afternoon.

“It’s a CD that has a two-hour long, high fidelity recording of gentle ocean waves. We’ll play it on a continuous loop, on a very low volume while we sleep. The ocean waves create a type of ‘white noise’ which will first, mask any random sounds in the apartment which may wake you, as well as create a subconscious rhythm that may help you stay asleep. I am hopeful this will end your three a.m. waking and strolling through the house,” Hank said.

“Well, it certainly appears to be safer for me than taking sleeping medication. I still wonder though, if I fall back asleep immediately after my stroll, why would the strolling be bad for me?” Boris said as he looked at the CD, took his glasses out of his jacket breast pocket and read the case.

“Really Boris, the strolling is not bad for you, it’s the waking part, and I believe that is what is harmful to you, the disruption of your sleep cycle. I have been watching you very closely since we got back from our trip. On the nights that you wake up, during the next day, your energy level seems to take a dive in the late afternoon and you seem to struggle through it, until you get your second wind, so that you can get through the rest of the day. It comes down to a chemical thing and waking at three a.m. may be jumbling up something inside of you. You should probably take a nap during that lull time in order to keep your daily momentum going, but that should not be a normal process. Sleeping through the night should be your normal process,” Dr. Hank stated. 

Hank didn’t want to tell Boris, just yet, that he thought the sleep interruption may also be a culprit in Boris’ light eating habits, but Hank didn’t have proof of that yet. Hank thought back to when they had returned from their honeymoon. He had wanted Boris to put on a few pounds during the trip (‘Every one gains weight on vacation’, Hank surmised, he certainly did), but just the opposite happened – Boris lost weight. Boris’ body worked hard during the many days he had elevated temperatures as he fought the heatstroke, and he simply burned off more weight quickly. Boris did eat, but he couldn’t keep up with what his body needed, nor could Hank force Boris to eat more; when Boris decided he was done eating, he stopped. 

One positive thing was that since they had returned home, and with Boris ‘healthy’ again, Boris’ weight did increase by three pounds. Hank was relieved at this even though he wanted Boris to gain at least five, but now would have preferred seven at this point. Hank was always amazed at how Boris could have, at times, such strength, control and energy, yet at other times could be so medically fragile and physically sensitive. Hank worked towards getting Boris to a balance; balance was important.

“Well, then, let us try this,” Boris offered simply, handing the CD back to Hank and returning his glasses to the pocket, yet inside he was grateful for Hank’s continued care.

 

~~~

 

Late autumn/early winter in the Hamptons: the weather could be anything, but mostly it was cold and wet. Walking on the beach wasn’t an option now as the sea was often fierce and the waves crashed so loudly and forcefully on the beach that it just wasn’t pleasant to be there at that time of year. It could also be dangerous as rip tides were now common and would take people out to sea quickly. One didn’t even have to be in the water (although being in the water would not be an intelligent thing to do at that time of the year anyway); huge, rogue waves had been known to take an innocent, hapless beach stroller into its own if they walked too close to the water line.

Top down on the Vantage and long walks on the beach were activities now sadly shelved for the season. Boris and Hank started to take walks on the extensive grounds of Shadow Pond. Khalil was very happy about this as he knew the Masters would be safe on their home property; surveillance cameras covered 99% of the grounds and the security team could keep an eye on the couple without being intrusive to their privacy. Khalil still sent two men to shadow them, just in case.

During the poor weather days, Boris continued to swim, although they had to turn the pool water and room temperature up quite a bit in the Pool Room; and Hank continued to run, but now on the treadmill in the Exercise Room which was off of the Pool Room.

Boris and Hank enjoyed bundling up to go outside for their walks. There had been a quick overnight trip to New York to go on a ‘sweater and winter coat shopping excursion’ the prior week; the clothing haul was tremendous. Both men refreshed and added to their wardrobes for the winter months. Several shop keepers were very happy that day at the sales which Boris and Hank generated just on their own. 

They had lunch at Jean-Georges and Chef was extremely pleased to see Boris and Hank once again. Boris asked Chef to join them for lunch, which he promptly did, and they enjoyed a long and leisurely three-hour visit. They shared with Chef some of the adventures of their honeymoon and Chef remarked that he enjoyed having the continued business connection with Justine at Elegante Wyn. 

Chef said, “My guests rave over the wines from your winery, the Sauvignons are fabulous!”

 

~~~

 

Going outside for a while during the winter meant that one would get chilled and when that happened, it meant that one would need to go back inside and warm up – that was the best part: to warm up. 

The Shadow Pond house had many fireplaces and it was a delight for the two men to chose a spot, spend a few hours of Library Time, in front of a fire to enjoy hot coffee, a glass of port wine or brandy, or even Hank’s favorite: hot cocoa. Not the ‘horrendous’ (Boris’ words) instant, powdered type that Evan thought was “…the best stuff ever…” but the true hot cocoa beverage that Chef Henri made from scratch with whole milk and Valrhona Cocoa Power, cardamom spice and just a touch of Toussaint Coffee Liqueur.

 

~~~

 

One afternoon, after a long walk, they sat warming up in the Library in front of the fireplace; Udo had just served them Chef’s Hot Cocoa and some pastries, and (Hank had secretly requested) a bottle of the Toussaint Coffee Liqueur. Udo left the bottle in an inconspicuous spot in the Library known only to him and Hank. Udo bowed slightly to Hank, smiled, and left them to their privacy. 

Hank was catching up on his emails and Boris was completely engrossed in his reading of a first edition of ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’ by Irving Stone in German. He didn’t even notice that Udo had left the room.

Hank looked over at Boris and watched him for a few moments, and enjoyed what he saw. Boris sat straight in his favorite chair, his long legs crossed and with his round reading glasses perched on his nose Boris was the picture of sophistication. One elegant hand held the hardcover book in front of him; Boris’ eyes darted back and forth across the pages as he read quickly; he would usually have the next page ready to turn over before he finished reading the previous page. 

“Are you warmed up yet, Boris?” Hank asked.

Boris didn’t look up from his book, but replied absently, “Hmmm, ja, somewhat.” 

Between the two of them, Boris was always the one to get chilled first and the last to warm up.

Hank smiled and got up from the couch; he quietly placed his laptop on the coffee table in front of him, walked over to where the coffee liqueur bottle had been set and picked it up. Hank watched Boris the whole time and saw that Boris only paid intense attention to his book. Hank walked to the Library door and quietly locked it. The crackling in the fireplace masked any sound that the door lock made. Now they had complete privacy as this was one of the few rooms in the house which did not have surveillance.

Boris turned a page and continued to read.

Hank walked over to the fireplace and put another log on the fire.

Boris turned another page; he was a voracious, focused reader and did so in several languages.

Hank walked over to the side table that Boris had his mug of hot cocoa on and saw that Boris had only drank half of it. Hank opened the bottle and filled Boris’ mug with the liqueur.

Boris turned another page not even acknowledging that Hank stood near him and filled his mug.

Hank then walked over to where his mug was and poured the liqueur into that. Now they both had hefty afternoon cocktails. Hank smiled with the thought of his plan.

Hank walked over to the fireplace now and took a drink from his mug, “Nice,” he said quietly to himself.

Still engrossed in his reading, Boris asked slowly, “Hmmmm, what is nice?”

“Oh, uh, the drink I just made us, take a sip of yours, Boris, it will help warm you up,” Hank said with slight surprise as he didn’t think Boris had heard him speak, ‘Gees, he’s got great hearing,’ Hank thought. 

Boris turned another page and reached, without looking, a hand to grasp the mug, which he slowly brought to his lips. He paused in this motion for a moment, his eyes still locked on the page he was reading. He then took a sip and stopped reading and looked into the mug. He looked up and around in front of him, seeing Hank’s laptop on the table, but no Hank. Boris thought that Hank was still sitting in front of him.

“Considerable; eh, on an empty stomach, this drink could make one inebriated quite quickly…Where are you?” Boris said as he looked around the room turning in his chair and finally saw Hank.

Hank took a sip from his mug, “Drink some more, you should warm up.”

Boris put his book down on the table, took his glasses off of his nose and set them on the book as he took another sip. The liqueur warmed him from the inside out and Boris enjoyed that feeling. 

Hank came over to Boris and looked down at him as Boris still sat in his chair. Hank smiled at Boris and said, “We can warm up in other ways, too,” Hank leaned over and kissed Boris on the forehead, “I’ve locked the door,” Hank said softly.

Boris chuckled and took another sip, “Ah, so this is the game, you are trying to get me drunk so that I would be powerless against you and I would have to do your bidding, ja?”

“You could call it that…” Hank took a sip, “This stuff is really tasty, don’t you think?” Hank laughed as he teased Boris.

“May I ask what you would require of me?” Boris teased back.

“Nothing complicated, just…” Hank walked over to the couch and sat down. He took another sip and placed his mug on the coffee table.

“Just…” Boris stood up from his chair, took another sip, walked over to the couch and looked down at Hank.

“Do what you always do to me, just do it…very…slowly,” Hank said as he looked up at Boris and smiled.

Boris sat down on the couch and placed his mug on the table. He looked at Hank with a thinly veiled wicked expression and said, “You will simply try to do anything to warm me up, do you not?” Boris then leaned over and positioned himself on his hands and knees above Hank, never taking his eyes off of Hank, as Hank now lounged with his back on the couch; Boris lowered himself onto Hank...

Boris did what Hank had asked for, and Boris did it slowly.

 

After a while, a very long while, they were both still on the couch, their clothes neatly folded and laid across the coffee table, their shoes were tucked under the side chair; Boris was behind Hank as they lounged on the couch and both faced the fireplace with the enormous, and soft, honey-toned chenille blanket covering them from past their feet and over and along their naked bodies to their shoulders. They watched the fire and Hank’s head was on Boris’ upper left arm; Boris’ right arm was across Hank’s body as he held Hank firmly against his body, Hank’s back to Boris’ front; their legs were molded against each other. Boris had arranged the throw pillows so that every part of them was supported and comfortable. Their mugs were empty and they were warm. At some point during the afternoon, Boris had even placed two more logs on the fire.

Boris kissed Hank behind his right ear and asked quietly, “Are you all right, my beloved One?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine; that was so…intense and wonderful…” Hank said with shyness.

“I believe you may have, how do you say, ‘left the room’ for a moment afterwards?” Boris said gently.

“Yeah, that’s what happened to me all right, whew, you made that so intense,” Hank admitted.

“Please do not hold your breath next time, ja? I became alarmed when you did not respond to me when I said your name. I do apologize that my slowness made this too…passionate,” Boris said with sincerity.

Hank turned his head to look up at Boris; Boris looked down at Hank; they studied one another’s faces in the flickering firelight.

“You have such incredible control…wait a minute, I was supposed to be in charge, this was my game,” Hank said as this dawned on him.

“Blame the liqueur, my beloved One, there was a good deal of it involved,” Boris said in an amused tone of voice, he continued with seriousness, “Are you certain that you are all right? You do not have any negative symptoms that I must now rush you to Hospital?” 

“I’m fine, really,” Hank paused, as he still looked into Boris’ eyes, “You’re a beautiful lover, Boris, I’ve never experienced what I experience with you,” Hank said slowly with openness and complete honesty.

Boris looked at Hank with a tender expression, “You flatter me, Husband. My actions are driven because of my love for you and my desire to please you. You delight me to no end.”

“We’re weird,” Hank stated happily as he looked back at the fire.

Also looking back at the fire, but taking a moment to kiss Hank gently behind his ear once more first, his lips lingered there for a moment, Boris asked softly, “Why should we be ‘weird’ at this moment? I am still attempting to learn all of your personal definitions of that term, it is obviously a favorite of yours; sometimes, I am quite confused as you deviate substantially from the standard definition.”

“Ha, yeah, I do say that a lot, don’t I? This time, it’s a good thing, a very good weird, just be satisfied with that,” Hank said.

“Ja, your wish is my command,” Boris replied as he kissed Hank behind his ear once more.


	14. Rationale, Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris and Hank discover just how much control they have over things and it isn’t as much as they had expected…or wanted.

It was the time of year when thoughts of a Thanksgiving Dinner came to every American’s mind. Hank suggested to Boris that they host a semi-formal dinner party and invite Evan, Divya, Jeremiah, and the other members of HankMed, along with Nurse Joanne and several of Hank’s closest doctor and nurse friends from Hamptons Heritage to Shadow Pond for a pleasant evening get-together. This included the people who helped Hank when he had been stabbed. All told, it would be a dinner party of 14. Boris was intrigued as he had never attended an ‘official’ (Boris’ words) American Thanksgiving Dinner.

Chef Henri thought that it was a “fantastique” idea and launched into creating a menu of the most classic of American holiday meals with roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin pie and all of the trimmings – even the infamous green bean casserole. The Shadow Pond staff gathered all sorts of Thanksgiving holiday-style decorations and the Formal Dining Room was resplendent with cornucopia, candles and garlands. It had snowed fairly heavy that afternoon and ceramic luminaries with lit candles had been placed along the front of the main house illuminating it with a gentle flickering glow; a welcoming front door display with a giant wreath wrapped in gold metallic ribbon and autumn leaves completed the look. 

 

Hank was very excited for this event and as he prepared for the evening in the bathroom, he sang excerpts from the song, ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas’, originally sung by Johnny Mathis.

“But Hank, it is Thanksgiving, why are you singing a song about Christmas?” Boris asked desperately as he was very confused. He attempted to tie his necktie and determine Hank’s singing at the same time, so he was very distracted and he had to start the tie process over and over.

“Because I don’t know any happy Thanksgiving songs,” Hank paused, “Um, I don’t think there are any, actually; except for maybe the goofy one from the movie ‘Addams’ Family Values’, where Pugsly dressed in a turkey costume sings ‘Eat Me’! Anyway, I’m happy right now and I’m just going with the flow!”

That entire statement confused Boris even more and he threw his hands up in frustration.

Hank walked into their Closet Room and saw Boris as he stood in front of the triple mirror while he tried again to tie his necktie. They looked at each other and Boris’ blatant expression screamed: Help Me. 

Hank stopped singing and walked over to Boris quickly and reached up to tie Boris’ necktie for him. Boris said in a flat tone of voice with an unhappy expression on his face, “Your singing has perplexed me.”

Hank smiled from ear-to-ear as he deftly tied Boris’ tie in a Balthus Knot - which Boris preferred (and one style of tie knots that Boris had taught him). Hank’s positive and happy energy quickly had Boris in a more calm state and he was very pleased with Hank’s treatment of his necktie. 

Boris nodded in approval as he looked at himself in the mirror. Boris wore a dark charcoal suit with the faintest of checks as the pattern, a solid medium charcoal dress shirt, a dark purple cloud-patterned necktie (a ‘just because it is made from a 300-year old silk kimono and it looks great with your hair’ gift from Hank), a gold pocket square, black Italian leather winged tip shoes along with diamond cufflinks and a tie bar that could, as Hank described, “…be seen a mile away.”

Hank wore a solid dark brown, double-breasted suit with a royal blue on blue striped shirt, a solid dark maroon tie, a pale blue and green pocket square, shiny maroon Italian leather loafers and an indigo sapphire stone gold tie pin and cufflinks with a matching gold collar bar (a ‘just because it matches your eyes’ gift set from Boris).

The two men looked at each other in the triple mirror; they both stood very tall and approved of what they saw.

“If we didn’t have to be in the dining room soon entertaining our guests, I would be all over you right now,” Hank stated, not taking his eyes off of Boris’ reflection in the mirror.

“And then you would disturb the exquisite knot that you made with my tie,” Boris replied, also not taking his eyes off of Hank’s reflection.

“Oh, I think I could work around the tie,” Hank said confidently.

“Are you certain? I shall have to take that bet,” Boris said equally as confident.

“Your hair’s so silver now, it matches the platinum in your cufflinks, and you look even more distinguished,” Hank commented.

“Your beard is quite stylish since Gio shaped it. It is very flattering to your look,” Boris stated.

“I love your long hair, it gives me something to hold onto,” Hank said.

“I simply want to dive into those brilliant blue eyes of yours,” Boris replied.

Hank paused and turned his head to look directly up at Boris, who turned to look directly at Hank. They smiled at each other with amusement on their faces.

“I love you, Hank,” Boris said.

“I love you back, Boris,” Hank said.

They embraced for a moment, and then separated when they heard Udo’s knock on the Apartment door reminding them that it was time to be available to greet their guests.

 

Boris and Hank stood in the Foyer waiting for their Guests to arrive and spoke with Udo about the evening.

“All is in ready, Sirs; this evening promises to be a spectacular event,” Udo said with a very pleased expression.

“Magnificent décor, Udo, quite festive,” Boris said as he looked around, “I especially appreciate how the dining table is set; the gold candles are a splendid touch.”

“Yes, Sir, I am happy you are pleased with it. We are serving the 2006 La Grande Dame Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé this evening in the Baccarat Speileglau glasses; I hope this meets with your approval,” Udo asked.

“Excellent, yes. Eh, when we had Chef’s menu tasting, there was that delicious cranberry and orange relish he made; I should like for that to be served in individual crystal bowls, it would look quite nice on the table,” Boris stated; he had not tasted that type of a relish before and enjoyed it immensely. He liked it so much that Boris asked Chef to incorporate it with any of the roasted poultry dishes he would create for them during the winter.

“Dr. Hank, is there anything else that you require for the evening?” Udo asked as he looked at Hank.

“Is the music all set?” Hank asked cheerfully. He had created a compilation of songs that he thought would lend a festive air and that everyone in the party would appreciate. Hank learned about everyone’s preferred style of music and spent days gathering up and arranging the music so that as it played throughout the evening; he hoped that each guest would recognize specific songs and enjoy hearing them.

“Oh yes, I have it already playing on a loop, as you instructed, and at the perfect volume for the room,” Udo stated.

Hank smiled and nodded. Boris looked at Hank with his usual amused expression as Hank was being quite adorable to him at the moment.

The front door was opened by Ty, their Houseman, and Evan walked in. He was dressed in a decent, skinny-style light grey suit, a bright magenta shirt with a yellow tie, and he even wore a trench coat, which their other Houseman, Dumont, took from him to hang up.

“Welcome, Evan, Happy Thanksgiving,” Boris said as he reached out a hand.

“Thank you, Boris,” Evan said, returning his handshake, “Wow, this place looks amazing! Hi ya, Bro!”

Evan and Hank embraced enthusiastically and Evan didn’t even try to ‘fun punch’ his greeting as he had done in the past. 

Hank said, “Hi, Evan, you look great! Thanks for coming.”

“Wow! You two could be on the cover of GQ,” Evan said enthusiastically and waving his hands, palms up, at them.

Boris and Hank looked at each other and smiled as they both remembered their trip to New York together and the night they proposed to one another.

 

The two brothers had resolved their conflict from two weeks prior; Hank went over to the Guest House one morning after breakfast and had a ‘heart-to-heart’ talk with Evan. They discussed a lot of things; Hank, as the older brother, took the lead in the conversation and Evan, the younger brother, listened and learned. 

Hank was able to determine that Evan still harbored frustrations over ‘losing Hank to Boris’; which, of course, was completely misplaced. Evan did that type of thing often. Hank cleared up and corrected that situation at the beginning of their conversation; Hank made sure Evan completely understood what it was all about. Hank even went so far as to say to Evan that if he had a ‘wife’ instead of ‘husband’, it would still be the same thing. Evan replied, “Oh, yeah, you’re right.”

At one point, Evan said, “But I was happy with the way our life was.”

Hank’s reply was, “Well, I thought I was happy, too; and then when it all changed for me, I found a deeper happiness that I didn’t even know I needed or was looking for. Seriously, it was amazing and I still think about how surprised I was when I noticed it and then finally accepted it. Sometimes, Evan, change is really good for us. Maybe now you will be able to find whatever it is that you’re looking for.”

“But I’m not looking for anything…or, are you saying that I should be looking for something?” Evan asked as he wavered in and out of confusion.

Hank replied, “Evan, don’t over think this! Boris always tells me, and shows me, that life is to be enjoyed and enjoyment can be found in even the simplest of times, or things, like just sitting outside and taking in the fresh air. I know that’s not one of your favorite things to do, but my point is that you just need to pay attention to what makes you TRULY happy, become aware of that and let it fill your life and make you whole. The best life comes to you when you’re not looking for it.” 

Evan said he would think about what they talked about and try to understand it all better. Evan expressed his concern that he might change during the course of this discovery; Hank tried to assure him that whatever happens, if it happens, when it happens, or not, or whatever ‘it’ is, that it is really all okay. Evan shook his head and said that was just too deep, “…too Zen…” for him; but, in the end, he promised Hank that he wouldn’t “…do any more stupid things.” 

 

Divya and Jeremiah arrived together and she was stunning in a burnt orange and silver formal saree gown, he was quite sophisticated-looking in a black tuxedo suit, a white shirt with a peacock feather bow tie. They made a handsome pair.

Boris and Hank exchanged glances with each other when the two arrived together, again. Lately, whenever Divya and Jeremiah now came to Shadow Pond, for lunch or tea or cocktails, they always arrived together…

Nurse Joanne arrived next and she wore a dark green dress with a strand of black pearls and matching earrings. She was so happy to be on the invite list for this dinner that she hugged both Hank AND Boris with enthusiasm. Hank laughed at Boris’ surprised expression as he was firmly embraced and being the gentleman that he was, he returned Joanne’s embrace, although with more restraint. Joanne looked up at Boris and blushed; she released him and stepped back quickly, and exclaimed in embarrassment, “Oh! I just never get to wear my pearls, thank you for inviting me!”

Soon, all of the other guests arrived and the evening began. The Brut Rosé was served to all and Hank, since it was his idea for the party, made the first toast. Hank stood next to the fireplace, with Boris on his right, as they gathered all around; Hank held up his glass, looked at everyone with a charming smile on his face (and he spent an extra moment as he looked at Boris) and said, “It is an absolute joy for me to be here sharing this evening with all of you. Thank you so much for coming. This past year has been a whirlwind for me, and without all of you, I would simply not be here. I am thankful for every one of you. Cheers!”

“Cheers!” echoed everyone as they held up their glasses. The evening began and there was laughter and lively conversation. 

 

The dinner chime rang and everyone took their places at the glittering table. Boris was seated at the head of the table with Hank at his right and Evan sat at Hank’s right. 

Hank said quietly to Evan, “I’m glad you’re here tonight, and I can’t help but notice, as your big brother, that you are on your best behavior. I really appreciate that.”

Evan smiled and replied quietly, “This is nice and I’m glad to be here, too. I’m tryin’, Bro’, but I can’t help but think we have to bust out the Twister game…”

“Evan!” Hank said a little more loudly than he had expected.

Joanne, Boris, Jeremiah, and Divya all turned their heads towards Hank and Evan with curious expressions.

Hank and Evan looked at them like they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, the brothers smiled sheepishly, and Evan said with all sincerity, “Sometimes I’m a putz and Hank has to put me in my place.”

Hank said nodding his head, “Evan’s right about that.”

A chilled Chenin Blanc from Elegante Wyn was served just as the dinner began. Hank asked Boris to make a toast. Boris stood at his place, raised his glass and as everyone did the same, he took the time to catch each person’s gaze; he held that gaze for a brief moment showing each one a friendly expression (he too lingered a little longer as he looked at Hank), and with that small smile of his, he said, “I should like to paraphrase, slightly, Mr. Henry David Thoreau by saying that I am grateful for what I am and what I have, for all that surrounds me and who I know…my thanksgiving is perpetual. To all of you and your well being…”

 

Chef Henri then entered the dining room, followed by his two Sous Chefs, Mack and Viv, as he pushed an elegant cart which held a silver covered platter on it. Much fanfare was made when the roast turkey was uncovered, carved, and served. 

Throughout the evening as the feast was enjoyed, there was more conversation and much laughter. 

 

Towards dessert, however, talk eventually turned to when Hank was being treated from the attack and what kind of a patient he was at Hamptons Heritage. It definitely became a ‘Hank Roast’, which everyone seemed to enjoy.

Boris was the most quiet one that evening at that point (even more so than Jeremiah) as much of the talk was either hospital or medical-related. He began to feel unsettled (and it grew in intensity) when the topic of the knife attack on Hank came up and continued and talked turned to the descriptive damage that was done on Hank’s body, but since he was usually quiet no one noticed that he was uncomfortable. 

No one noticed Boris’ discomfort, except for Hank and Udo; and then Joanne immediately looked around the room as if she was trying to locate or pinpoint something in the air and quickly found it when she looked directly at Boris. He sat there quite frozen, but what Joanne felt coming from him alarmed her and she attempted to catch Hank’s eye without looking rude… 

As everyone else laughed off the topic, Boris just nodded, as he feigned interest in whatever was being said. Boris would have preferred for them to change the subject completely or for him to leave the dining room so he could not hear what they were saying, but since neither of those things could happen – as he was always the consummate host – he put on a brave face for his guests, raised his chin and in his lap, out of the line-of-sight of his guests, he rubbed the linen fabric of his napkin between his left hand fingers and thumb as he remembered Hank’s instructions of what to do to try and keep himself out of the unsettling. During that evening, that tactic didn’t work at all for Boris; he had been taken by surprise and Boris never fared well with surprises.

Hank got Boris’ attention and held out his hand under the table corner for Boris to hold. Boris saw this, smiled tightly at Hank, then took and squeezed Hank’s hand with his right hand. Boris’ grip was fierce and Hank could tell Boris needed to be rescued.

“Hey, everyone! I think its coffee and dessert time, which, I’ve learned is best enjoyed over in the lounging area,” Hank said, as he interrupted the Hank Roast and comments about stitches, blood, and muscles; he released Boris’ hand and stood up from his chair.

Everyone else began to stand up as well, and they moved towards the lounge area; the Hank Roast conversation stopped immediately.

Udo witnessed Boris’ situation and had just started to come over to Boris as Hank stood up from his chair. Udo got immediately next to Boris, looked him squarely in the eyes, and asked, “Would you like some citrus water, Sir?” 

Boris looked at Udo intently as he stood up from his chair using the table for a guide, blinked hard and replied quietly, “Yes, please, Udo.”

Udo already had the glass of citrus water in his hand and he handed the glass to Boris. Udo held Boris’ gaze but noticed that Boris’ hand was shaking slightly as he took the glass.

Hank leaned into Udo quickly before he guided their guests to the lounge area and whispered, “Thanks, Udo. I’ll be right back.”

Hank got everyone settled and their servers, Marie and Angela, immediately began to serve the coffee and pumpkin pie. Joanne stepped to be near Hank and touched his arm briefly, looked into Hank’s eyes and softly said, “There is something wrong with Boris.” 

Hank nodded to her and said quietly, “Yes, I know, thanks,” and he returned immediately to where Boris stood, still near the dining table with Udo.

Joanne went to the lounging area, sat next to Divya, and she was provided with her dessert.

Now that Hank was near, Udo nodded to Boris and gave him a confident expression. Udo and Hank exchanged looks as Udo turned and walked away to now further care for their guests. 

Boris’ eyes followed Udo for a brief moment and then snapped back to look at Hank.

Hank saw the anxiety in Boris’ eyes, the set jaw, and that he now held the glass with one shaking hand around it and the other hand supporting the glass from below. The napkin had fallen to the floor. Hank said firmly but quietly, “Breathe for me, Boris, breathe from your diaphragm three times,” Hank held both of Boris’ upper arms with both of his hands and looked directly into his eyes. Hank then said, “Drink some of the water for me, Boris.”

Boris did as Hank instructed.

 

Across the room and seated, Divya and Joanne watched Hank and Boris. The ladies were sitting next to each other and exchanged glances. Since Jeremiah stood behind Divya to her left and Joanne’s right, he followed their gaze to also see Hank with Boris. The three of them were now aware that something was going on. Divya looked up at Jeremiah and quietly asked him, “Do you remember what Boris looked like in the hospital when he was waiting for Hank to wake up?”

“Yes, I do, his expression now is similar; what would have caused this?” Jeremiah had leaned over and asked quietly so that only Divya and Joanne could hear him.

Joanne then said quietly, “I don’t know, but I felt his energy change with the force of a freight train, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Boris is having a type of anxiety-related breakdown.”

Divya and Jeremiah nodded in agreement and Jeremiah said, “Let’s not draw attention to them by looking in their direction; the rest may also…start to stare.”

Joanne and Divya nodded and Divya stood up and went over to the fireplace to verbally admire the pastoral oil painting, ‘View of La Crescenza’, by Claude Lorrain, which hung above it; this drew attention in her direction. Joanne and Jeremiah exchanged glances and she said, “I wonder what we can do to help...”

 

With the water, the breathing and Hank’s close proximity, Boris began to calm slightly. He suddenly felt drained of energy and closed his eyes and turned his head away for a moment for fear of being seen; he swayed a bit, but Hank still gripped his upper arms and held him firm. Boris opened his eyes, looked again at Hank and softly said, “Thank you, I…eh…” he drank the last of the citrus water, “I am not certain that I can finish the night…in this company…eh…I mean…” Boris placed the empty glass carefully on the table.

“Its okay, Boris, you might want to go back to our Apartment to rest, do you think you can do that?” Hank asked, as he watched Boris intently.

“Ja, but I am…unable…” Boris swayed a little more, “…to make my exit apologies,” Boris said with a growing look of concern (now about being a poor host) in his eyes as they flickered towards their guests.

“Don’t worry, I’ll apologize for you and tell them that you slept poorly last night and the festivities just wore you out; that happens to everyone at some point, they will understand. It’s almost the end of the evening anyway. I’ll take care of this, but I want Udo to escort you back to our Apartment, I won’t let you walk there by yourself, do you understand me?” Hank said firmly.

Boris shook his head, “No, you need Udo here to help care for our guests; I will be fine, surely. I am just weary now.” But Boris was more than weary.

“I disagree, Boris,” Hank said and he looked around to catch Angela’s eye. 

Angela came over to them, “Yes, Dr. Hank?”

Hank said, “Please get Udo immediately.”

Angela turned and went to locate Udo, who, within a moment, was at their side.

“Udo, please walk Boris back to our Apartment right now so that he can rest,” Hank directed as he released his hands from Boris’ arms.

“Yes, Dr. Hank. Please come with me, Sir,” Udo replied.

Boris looked at Hank, nodded, smiled weakly and allowed himself to be led away by Udo. He walked slowly and Udo matched his gait.

Hank turned around and walked back quickly to the seating area to face their guests. He immediately saw the concerned expressions from Divya, Jeremiah, and Joanne and he nodded and smiled.

“Oh, terrific! Pumpkin pie!” Hank exclaimed as Marie handed him his dessert and a fork; she set his coffee on the table next to where he was now standing.

There was more conversation and everyone continued to enjoy themselves. Evan looked around and asked loud enough so that all could hear him, “Hey, Hank, do you know where Boris is? He’s missing out on this terrific pumpkin pie!”

Hank had finished his piece of pie and was sipping on his coffee; he shot Evan a look (which Evan didn’t know what that look was for) and said, “Well, everyone, Boris sends his apologies that he is unable to finish the evening with us. He slept very poorly last night and the festivities just wore him out. He hopes that everyone is having a wonderful time and asked that we continue without him.”

Everyone nodded and there were many comments wishing Boris well and that he would sleep better during the night.

 

Udo led Boris down the corridor to the Apartment; Boris was slow and at one point, Udo clasped his right hand around Boris’ right arm and his left arm around Boris’ body to support him as they walked.

They were both silent for most of the way when Boris said quietly, “This feels like old times, eh, Udo? You leading me to my bed when I was ill?”

“Yes, Sir, but these are not fond memories for me. I only want you to be healthy, Sir,” Udo said sadly.

“Ja, I know, those are not good memories for me either…” Boris said weakly.

Udo opened their Apartment door and guided Boris inside and they walked over to the bed. 

“This is fine, Udo, I can take care of myself now. Please go and take care of Hank for me…” Boris asked with a pleading tone to his voice, absently looking around the room.

“Are you certain of this, Sir? I don’t think that Dr. Hank would be happy with me if I left you alone,” Udo asked as he didn’t believe that Boris could care for himself at the moment.

“Ja, I understand, Udo, just please do as I say and go to assist Hank right now,” Boris instructed with an edge to his voice as he then stared at the fireplace.

“At least sit at the edge of the bed, then I will see to Dr. Hank,” Udo almost begged Boris to comply.

Boris nodded his head and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. He still stared at the fireplace now thinking that he forgot to do something, and started to breathe faster.

Udo stood there for a moment longer as he looked at his beloved Master and hoped that he would be well after a good night’s sleep; Udo then asked, “Would you like to have some water, Sir?”

Boris shook his head and continued to stare at the fireplace.

Udo knew he would not be able to do anything further for him when he got to this point and so Udo turned and walked out of the Apartment and closed the door silently. As Udo quickly walked back to the dining room, he hoped that the gathering was ending pleasantly for their guests and that their guests were leaving and that Dr. Hank would be free to help.

 

Boris sat there on the edge of the bed alone. He felt exhausted and his hands started to tremble again, but he didn’t notice them. His mind ran rampant and formed the images of Hank being stabbed and the blood and Hank’s pale, unconscious face and limp body; Boris remembered his conversation with President Albert about the assailant and his family’s involvement; and Boris remembered the rude letter from Uncle Stephan von Jurgens. Boris shuddered; his eyes looked around the room as he was still trying to remember something else, but shook his head because he couldn’t figure out what that was. The anxiety had taken over. 

He said out loud in a mixture of languages, “I am supposed to do something right now…Hank said I must do something…” and he ran the fingers of his left hand through his hair frantically, his right hand gripped his right knee tightly and as he grew more frustrated his breathing became shallow and rapid. Boris slid off the bed and sat on the floor with his knees drawn up close to his chest. He wrapped his arms about his folded-up legs and placed his forehead on his knees while he shivered. 

 

About fifteen minutes later, everyone started to say their goodbyes citing early shifts at the hospital the next day to Hank and thanked him, and Boris, for the wonderful evening. As they retrieved and donned their coats, there were more wishes for Boris to have a better night’s sleep, as well as exclamations of “Happy Thanksgiving!” 

Divya, Jeremiah, and Joanne stayed a few moments longer after everyone else had left to ask Hank about what had happened to Boris – their concern was palpable and they knew the ‘poor night’s sleep’ was a cover-up.

Jeremiah asked Hank directly, “Was what Boris experienced this evening triggered by the discussion of the attack on you?”

Hank grimaced and admitted, “Yeah, I believe it was, but there is a deeper cause that comes into play when this happens; which I can’t share right now. He and I are working on that. It’s complicated, he’s complicated, and unfortunately, I think the conversation at dinner stirred up a lot of things for him. Thank you all for being so understanding.”

Joanne said sincerely, “If there is anything that I can do to help, Hank, please let me know. Maybe we can do some energy work with him or something.”

“Okay, we’ll see; thank you very much,” Hank said as he smiled at the three of them.

They said their good nights, shared hugs, reiterated their offers of assistance for Boris, and thanked Hank again for the ‘beautiful evening’.

As everyone had now left, and the entry door was closed, Hank looked at Udo, who said pleadingly, “Please go to him Dr. Hank; he dismissed me to come and assist you with the guests; he needs you now.”

Hank turned and ran at his top speed down the corridor to their Apartment.

 

Hank entered their Apartment quickly, actually sliding into the room, he swung the door open widely and didn’t bother to close the door; he looked around desperately in the darkened room as only two small lamps were lit. Hank called out, “Boris?!” 

Hank didn’t see Boris at first because Boris was wearing dark clothing and blended in with the dark room. Hank had also not expected Boris to be sitting on the floor at the foot of their bed with his head (still) on his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs. Hank then saw Boris’ silver hair in the dim light and walked quickly over to Boris and knelt down beside him as he heard Boris’ troubled breathing. Hank placed his hand lightly on Boris’ right shoulder just as Boris passed out from hyperventilating and he fell into Hank’s arms and lap in an unconscious heap.

“Oh crap,” was all Dr. Hank could say.

Hank arranged himself so he could cradle Boris more comfortably and caressed Boris’ forehead. Hank loosened Boris’ tie and unbuttoned the top buttons of his dress shirt; he patted Boris’ cheek and the side of his neck to try and revive him, “Come on, Boris, wake up for me, come on,” Hank said out loud, “Oh, this isn’t going to work, I’ve got to get the ammonia inhalant…”

Hank gently placed Boris’ head on the floor. Hank moved Boris’s body so that he was lying flat on his back on the floor with his legs extended. Hank removed Boris’ shoes and set them under the bed and took off his own jacket and rolled it up; then Hank lifted Boris’ feet and placed them on his rolled jacket. “His feet need to be higher,” Hank said out loud and grabbed the nearest pillow to also place under Boris’ feet to raise them. Hank got up and went into the bath room and turned on the lights. He returned a moment later with a large white capsule and positioned himself in such a way that he could try and prevent Boris from injuring himself as well as Hank when he awoke; it would be a violent awakening. “He’s not going to like this,” Hank said as he broke the capsule underneath Boris’ nose.

The ammonia drove through the fog in Boris’ brain and awoke him with such force that he inhaled with a loud gasp and then turned on his right side to dry heave, curling himself up and coughing. In between his attempts to take fresh air into his lungs, he coughed and heaved multiple times; Hank even thought he heard Boris swear in three different languages.

Hank took Boris’ head and placed it in his lap, now stroking his hair as he leaned over and spoke gently, “I’m here Boris, its okay, you’re going to be fine.”

Boris continued to cough and dry heaved twice more before his breathing settled into a ragged, but deeper pattern. He lay on the floor, still curled up somewhat, not even attempting to move; his eyes were tightly shut. Boris shuddered and whispered, “Is that you, Hank? Please say it is you.”

“Yes, it’s me. Let’s get you up on our bed and comfortable,” Hank said.

“Nyet!” Boris replied angrily, “I simply cannot bear to do anything right now…”

“Please, Boris, help me to get you on the bed, it will be better. I’ll take care of everything else,” Hank pleaded.

“Let me see your face,” Boris asked quietly.

Hank moved so that Boris could see him and he hoped that the light in the Apartment, which was now brighter because Hank had turned on the Bath Room lights, would allow Boris to see his blue eyes. Boris always seemed better when he could see Hank’s eyes.

Boris opened and squinted his eyes as they adjusted to the light and saw Hank’s face; he smiled very slightly and reached his hand to touch Hank’s whiskered cheek, “Ja, it is you,” he coughed again, “my beloved, One. All right, I shall get on the bed.”

Udo then entered the still open door to the Apartment and he looked fearful. He had heard the sounds of Boris’ heaving and coughing down the corridor as he had drawn nearer to their Apartment; Udo had ran down the corridor and Udo never ran anywhere. He knew Hank would need help and got there as quickly as he could.

Hank looked up to see Udo and said, “Thank you for coming, Udo, please, help me get him on the bed.”

Hank helped Boris to sit up; Boris coughed deeply as Hank and Udo then lifted Boris to a standing position with each of his arms around each of their shoulders. Boris almost fell back to the floor. They caught him and guided him to the side of the bed and sat him down. Hank and Udo moved in tandem to turn Boris and assisted him to lie fully on the bed.

“Rest a moment, Boris,” Hank said as he took Udo by the arm and they both walked a few steps away from the bed.

“Why did he make those sounds? I heard them all the way down the corridor. What may I do to assist you, Dr. Hank?” A worried Udo asked sincerely.

“He passed out Udo and I had to use the ammonia capsule to revive him; that stuff is really strong, everyone reacts that way. I can’t think of anything that he needs right now except sleep. Can you go and get his pajamas and I’ll start to get him undressed,” Hank said.

Udo looked alarmed but nodded and walked into their Closet Room.

Hank turned back and walked back to the bed, sat down on the edge and looked down at Boris who then opened his eyes, coughed again, and looked up at Hank with a weary and sad expression.

Hank smiled slightly at Boris and began to remove his tie, tie bar and cufflinks which he placed on the night stand. Hank then saw Boris’ cane leaning up against the night stand and wondered if Boris had had his cane with him in the dining room during the evening would it have been a better reminder to Boris to stay centered. ‘We should be so lucky,’ Hank thought.

Udo came back to the bed and placed the neatly folded pajamas on the bed. Hank nodded his head in thanks and looked up at Udo as Udo said quietly, “I will check on you both during the night and have your breakfast brought here at…” He looked at his wristwatch, “Nine a.m.”

“Thanks, Udo,” Hank said sincerely, smiled slightly and reached out his left hand to touch Udo’s right forearm.

Udo nodded, smiled slightly in return, looked at Boris (who had closed his eyes again), turned and walked to the open door, and closed it silently behind him.

Hank said, “Come on Boris, try and sit up for me, I want to get you into your pajamas.”

Boris opened his eyes and started to use both arms to prop himself to a seated position, “Eh, let me move my legs…I can change…with your help, I think. Should not we attend to our guests, though?”

Hank moved and helped Boris to sit up, as he swung his legs off the side of the bed, Hank said, “They have all left already. It’s okay; let’s talk about this more tomorrow.” He helped Boris to remove his jacket, shirt and trousers and got him into his silk pajamas; then eased him back down to the bed, guiding his head to the pillow with his hand on the back of Boris’ head and neck, and pulled the cover sheet and blankets up to his chest to keep him warm. Hank set Boris’ clothes neatly across the back of a chair as he knew Boris would want them to be.

Boris’ long arm and hand reached out to clasp Hank’s arm just as he started to turn away from the bed.

They looked at each other.

“I’m just going to change out of my suit, too,” Hank said, smiling slightly, “I’ll join you on the bed in a moment, okay?”

“Ja,” Boris said softly as his head turned, he coughed again, and he watched Hank walk around the bed and into Closet Room.

Hank retrieved his sleeping shirt and pants and walked back into the bedroom area to change in front of Boris; Hank felt that Boris might take some comfort from Hank being nearby.

Hank, too, laid his clothes neatly across the same chair back that Boris’ clothes were on. Hank asked, “Can I get you anything right now? Water, maybe?”

“Eh, ja, please, I have a vile taste in my mouth; what was that?” Boris asked as he slowly sat up in bed.

“I’m sorry about that, it was an ammonia inhalant, uh, commonly known as smelling salts. I needed to get you awake immediately,” Hank replied as he went over to the ‘water table’ (Boris’ words) and poured two glasses of water. He walked back to Boris’ side of the bed, sat down and handed one of the glasses of water to Boris. 

They both drank quickly and Boris leaned back down on the bed and took a deep breath, he coughed again and for a longer time. Hank took the empty glasses, returned them to the table; he then turned off all of the lights in the Apartment except for the one on his nightstand, turned on the sound machine, crawled into bed and moved to cradle Boris in his arms.

They were both quiet for a few moments, then Boris said, “Thank you for rescuing me, again, my beloved One. I truly tried to remember to do the things you taught me to calm the unsettling, but it was all gone from my mind.”

“You’re welcome and don’t worry about that. I think you were a little too far gone to remember anything. You were so gone that you passed out!” Hank paused, “You know, I’m a little upset, though,” Hank said openly.

“You are upset with me?” Boris turned quickly to look at Hank as he was afraid now, “Oh, good lord, Hank! I apologize for my actions; I tried to hold it in…”

“No, no, no; oh, crap, I’m not upset with you, Tree!” Hank said as he pulled Boris back down to him, hugged Boris tighter, kissed his head and held Boris’ head against his chest, “Oh gees, no, I know you did your best. I’m bothered that our guests even brought up the topic at all, and during dinner. Yeah, it was great fun to poke at me, I even enjoyed that part; but for them to be so flippant about the whole event, in front of you, they obviously didn’t remember at all how traumatized you were. And I should have just taken you right out of the dining room myself. Hell, I shouldn’t even be talking about this right now with the state you’re in!” Hank stopped as he tilted his head and looked at Boris (who looked up at Hank) and saw that Boris’ expression had begun to show more fear; “No, no, Boris, calm down, it’s okay,” Hank could feel Boris’ body tense up so Hank held Boris’ head against his chest again and stroked his hair. 

Boris slowly released the tension from his body and he molded himself against Hank. “I do not know what to do,” Boris admitted this simply in a very quiet voice.

“You…don’t have to do anything about this or anything right now as far as I am concerned. What I do know is that you are now exhausted and need sleep - a lot of good sleep. I am going to stay awake until I know you have fallen asleep and then I am going to make sure that nothing disturbs you. I don’t want you to do anything, whatever you need I will do it for you, okay?” Hank stated.

From where his head was on Hank’s chest, Boris said quietly, “I must use the facilities.”

“Oh,” Hank chuckled in spite of the situation; he actually thought Boris was making a joke and wondered how Boris could manage that in his current condition.

“I am surely serious this time,” Boris said as he rose up from Hank’s chest and looked at Hank with a slight crooked smile, “I appreciate you’re offer of assistance, however, I shall still need to take care of this myself.”

“Well, except for that. Okay, take it slowly, I’ll be close by so I can catch you if you start to fall,” Hank instructed.

When Boris stood up, he dry heaved and coughed which forced him to sit heavily back down on the bed. Bent over at the waist, his hand at his mouth, he looked up at Hank with a silent ‘Again?’ expression and his eyes wide open, but Hank assured him it was normal because the inhalant was so powerful and it would wear off overnight. Hank planned to watch Boris the next day for any more symptoms as Hank knew Boris was ultra-sensitive to intense medications and chemicals.

Afterwards, when they settled back together on the bed, Hank was very pleased that Boris fell asleep as quickly as he did. Hank stayed awake for a least an hour, as he watched Boris sleep and think about the evening. 

 

~~~

 

At two a.m., Udo, in his pajamas, robe and slippers, walked quietly down the corridor and gently opened the door to their Apartment to check on them. Udo knew how to be silent in his movements and he did not wake either of them. The lamp on Hank’s nightstand was still lit and Udo was able to view them both. Boris was asleep on his right side and apparently curled up under the blankets; Hank was also asleep and had molded himself behind Boris with a protective arm around him and on top of the blankets. Udo listened intently to their breathing and it was steady, quiet, and even. He nodded and felt that they were both all right. Udo turned, left their Apartment, closed the door silently and returned to his room where he reset his alarm for five a.m. so that he could check on them once more before the morning.

 

Boris did not awaken at three a.m. and take a stroll during the night.

 

Hank awoke at just past seven a.m. and as his senses sharpened, he found that Boris still slept beside him on his left side facing Hank. Boris’ forehead was against Hank’s left upper arm and his breathing was calm. Boris’ right hand was on Hank’s left forearm as his fingers gently held onto Hank even while he slept. 

Hank stayed there for a few moments as he recalled the previous day and how happy of a day it had started and how it was supposed to end that way, but didn’t. Hank felt annoyed that the evening had degenerated into what it did (at least for the two of them) simply because of a conversation about body parts and a hospital stay. Hank then thought to himself, ‘Well, that was flippant of me to even think that…’ Hank reminded himself that not everyone appreciated medical-based humor or took likely discussions of bodily fluids, as doctors and nurses did, especially when it involved… There was so much more behind that simple conversation that any of them had realized. 

Hank had plans to finish their evening with a passionate private time with his husband (because to Hank, Boris looked so handsome that evening that if he wasn’t already in love with him, he would have certainly fallen that night) and he ended up being the doctor instead who had to pull his patient out of the anxious morass that was sometimes Boris’ mind. 

Hank then thought that he should have not only held Boris’ hand under the table in support, but that he should have just taken Boris out of the room when they stood up to gather for the dessert or even sooner. ‘Damn to social decorum! I missed my opportunity to really help him,’ Hank thought angrily. Hank wondered if Boris would have even left the room with him for fear of that he would abandon their guests as Boris was such a proper host. ‘I could have made him leave the room…’ Hank thought.

‘Well, in any case,’ Hank thought as he tried to find a positive route to his thoughts, ‘…we have a new day and I’m going to make it a great one for us!’ Hank was determined to share his natural cheerfulness with Boris even more so on that day.

As he moved slowly and carefully, Hank was able to get out of bed without waking Boris. Boris made some deep sounds from his throat and Hank watched Boris move and adjust his position in slow and fluid motions even visible under the blankets.

“YA dolzhen byt' svoboden…” Boris said in his sleep, his deep voice trailed off into an exhale.

Hank was good at memorizing words that he heard or read and that was just one of the many reasons why he did so well in medical school. He easily held the complicated words in his mind and picked up his phone to Google them; Hank spelled the words phonetically and was thankful for what computer programmers did that made learning so easy now. 

Hank read that it was Russian and the transliteration was basically: ‘I must be free’. Hank looked at Boris and said softly, “Yes, we all must be free, Boris.”

After he freshened up in the bathroom, Hank opened the draperies in the seating area and the bright sunlight filtered into the room, even through the sheers. He blinked and looked outside; the snow was still there and sparkling in the early light. Hank smiled and turned his head to look over at Boris on the bed. Hank thought that the sunlight which came into their Apartment would be a healthy way for Boris to awake naturally.

It was almost eight now and Hank was hungry. He stepped outside their Apartment, closed the door most of the way, stood in the corridor and dialed Udo on his cell phone; Hank spoke quietly, “Good morning, Udo, how are you today?”

“Good morning, Sir, thank you for asking, I am well. May I ask how the two of you are?” Udo said with anticipation.

“I’m good, Boris is still sleeping. Um, can I ask for breakfast to be delivered earlier than nine? I’m really hungry,” Hank said shyly.

“Why of course, Sir, consider it on the way to your Apartment already,” Udo stated, “Is there anything else besides breakfast that either of you would require?”

“Are Boris’ three newspapers here yet? I’d like to make today as normal and as pleasant as possible for him. We both know that he likes to read during breakfast. I also want to talk him into going for a ride in the Bentley and maybe a late lunch at the Fleur Bistro in town today,” Hank wondered out loud.

“Yes, Sir, I will have the papers brought with breakfast. I will also notify Khalil to prepare for the potential excursion,” Udo replied.

“Thanks, Udo, for everything as always, and with your help last night, I know it was a tough night for the three of us,” Hank offered.

“Certainly, Sir, but especially for one of us; please also know that Nurse Joanne, Ms. Divya and Dr. Sacani have just sent me texts this morning asking if He is all right,” Udo said.

“Aw, that’s really nice of them, gees they are terrific friends. Please tell them: so far so good. But don’t tell them about Boris passing out; I don’t want them to worry right now. They don’t know how serious his anxiety can be,” Hank said, “Hey, I’ve got to get back in the room, thanks again.”

“Yes, Sir,” Udo replied in his usual kind and understanding tone of voice.

Hank ended the call and walked back into the Apartment and over to the bed; Boris had moved slightly but was still asleep. Hank thought, ‘The smell of breakfast will be a nice way for him to wake up, too.’

Breakfast was delivered within fifteen minutes; Hank waited at the door so that he could bring the cart into the room himself. He wasn’t sure if Boris wanted to see anyone on the staff first thing after waking, especially that morning, and Hank didn’t want to take the chance that it would upset him.

Hank felt that the delicious smell of breakfast emanating from the cart was fantastic and his stomach growled its disapproval – Hank had kept it waiting. He poured himself a cup of coffee and stood near the bed drinking it as he watched Boris sleep. Hank started to think that Boris should have awakened by now. There was sunlight in the room, the smell of breakfast AND coffee, and the soft sounds that Hank made as he moved about the Apartment should have caused Boris to stir and wake by now. Always a study in contrasts, Boris could be the most deep sleeper of all times and yet be awakened by only the sound of a single drop of water.

He went to the edge of the bed and put his coffee cup down on the night stand, sat next to Boris, and looked fondly at him. Hank prepared to move away quickly if needed as he placed his warm hand on Boris’ shoulder (Hank could feel Boris’ cooler body temperature through the silk pajama shirt) and said gently, “Good morning, Boris, please wake up now.”

Boris moved a bit and murmured; neither his mind yet registering nor his senses yet perceiving anything around him. 

“It’s me, Hank, I’d like you to wake up now…there’s fresh coffee ready for you,” Hank offered, as he watched Boris now as a doctor as well as a husband.

Slowly, Boris began to become cognizant and he moaned; his eyes opened but they didn’t want to stay open and his right eyelid wanted to keep closing before his left eyelid did. That was one of Boris’ early signs of exhaustion; Hank reminded himself to watch Boris walk during the day as Boris would also drag his right foot when he experienced that ailment.

Boris was on his right side and Hank’s hand gently moved Boris onto his back. Hank put his hand under Boris’ chin to gently lift his head, thus stretching his neck so that Boris might feel inclined to take a deep breath.

Hank watched Boris awaken and it was somewhat troubling to Hank because of how long Boris took to do this. It was as if Boris attempted to pull himself out of a thickness and that was very unlike him. 

Boris finally took a deep breath and both of his eyes finally opened and stayed open, then he blinked, as Hank watched Boris slowly focus on the ornate ceiling above their bed.

Hank sat there quietly at the edge of the bed with his right hand flat on Boris’ chest at his heart as he waited for Boris to notice him.

Boris blinked hard and then looked over at Hank’s smiling face, his grey/blue eyes dark as they slowly re-focused on Hank and he smiled slightly. He started to say something, but it got stuck in his throat.

“Here, have a sip of coffee,” Hank said as he picked up his cup of coffee with one hand and helped Boris raise his head up with the other; Boris took a sip of coffee.

Quietly Boris said, as he looked up at Hank, “I adore coffee...”

Hank smiled as he set the cup back on the night stand and leaned over to tenderly kiss Boris on his lips. Boris kissed back.

Hank sat back and placed his hand again on Boris’ chest and asked in his Dr. Hank voice, “How do you feel at this moment?”

“Eh…no pain, but I am frightfully groggy,” Boris replied as he blinked again with the hopes to drive away the slowness he felt.

“I think if you move around a little bit, that may go away quicker,” Hank said, “The seating area is nicely sunny, just as you like it…and…we have breakfast, your newspapers, and lots of coffee ready. Come on, I’ll help you.”

Boris nodded his head and Hank stood up to help him to sit up and then helped him to swing his legs over the side of the bed. Boris sat there with his bare feet on the wood floor wavering slightly and he used his hands on the bed to steady himself further. Hank stood directly in front of him, looking down at him with a smile and then ran his fingers through Boris’ long hair to tame it somewhat. Boris closed his eyes briefly as Hank did this; Boris always enjoyed Hank’s treatment of his silver mane. Then Boris reached outward with both arms and encircled Hank’s lower body to embrace him. Hank took a step closer to the bed and placed his hands on Boris’ head and one shoulder. Boris placed the right side of his head and face against Hank’s chest.

They stayed that way for many minutes.

“Come with me, and let’s get this new day started,” Hank said cheerfully as he pulled back gently and motioned for Boris to stand up, “You look surprised that you can stand up, Boris,” Hank said.

Boris had released his hold on Hank, stood up slowly and replied, “Ja, I am, eh, if you felt what I feel at this moment, you would be surprised, too,” Boris said as his eyebrows raised, “I shall join you in the seating area momentarily,” Boris added as he pointed to the Bath Room and began to walk slowly in that direction.

Hank followed him for a few steps, saw that Boris was safely mobile, and then retrieved his coffee cup and went to the seating area to prepare their breakfast.

After finishing the Bath Room, Boris had put on a robe and slippers and walked to where Hank was and flatly said, “I accidentally saw myself in the mirror, Hank, and I look dead,” He sat down carefully in his favored chair, using his arms for support.

“Nah, you don’t look dead, you just look…” Hank tried to find another, less ugly of a word, “…uh…”

“Dead…just say it,” Boris interrupted him as he took the cup of coffee Hank handed to him. Boris took a sip of coffee and a look of pleasure spread across his face, he smiled slightly.

“Ok, so after just one more sip of coffee, you don’t look dead anymore, this stuff is powerful,” Hank said cheerfully, as he looked into his cup of coffee, “Just what did Chef put in our coffee?”

 

Hank was successful at talking Boris into going to the Café for a late lunch. Khalil had two teams and the three cars ready for the excursion. Hank thought, as he usually did, that the security ‘thing’ was always overkill, but knew in his heart that if it all made Boris feel more secure, than it was all more than worthwhile. One of these days, Hank thought, he just wanted to take Boris somewhere without anybody around them, just for the wild thrill to be alone together and unknown out in the world; then, in the next moment, Hank thought that idea was probably a pipe dream and if Boris knew what he was thinking, Boris would scold Hank for being careless about their safety.

Hank was constantly amused by the Hamptonites’ reactions whenever he and Boris (and subsequently Udo, the security teams totaling five men, and the three very large and very black vehicles) were out and about in town. The locals were intrigued by the entourage, and thrilled at seeing some elite members of society, and yet tried not to show it. To Hank, the locals just looked silly with their struggle. Boris usually acted as if he didn’t notice they were struggling. 

Boris expressed his gratitude to Hank, during lunch, for making the day so enjoyable. Boris felt much better as the day had progressed, but moved carefully throughout the day as if he felt he would break, (he also admitted this Hank) and so he leaned on his cane more than normal. 

The sun was bright, the air was cold but if one were properly dressed, it felt refreshing to take a walk down the sidewalk of downtown Southampton, even with your security teams shadowing you. The snow had melted from the sidewalks because of the sun and there was no ice to navigate around. Both Boris and Hank wore very stylish wool trench-style coats (Boris preferred his long black coat, Hank preferred his mahogany-toned car coat) with cashmere neck scarves to keep away the chill – Boris’ scarf was pewter and Hank’s scarf was teal. Boris always wore fur-lined black leather gloves when he went outside in the winter as his hands would get ‘painfully cold’ (Boris’ words) very quickly. He teased that Hank had ‘lava for blood’ as Hank seemed to always be warm and never needed gloves at all. 

During lunch, Boris said, “I truly enjoy the ride in the Bentley; I am so very pleased with that vehicle.”

“Yeah, it’s a REALLY nice car. I’ve been meaning to ask you, what are you going to do now with the Porsche Panamera, Boris?” 

“Ah! I had an idea once a few weeks ago, which I was going to surprise both you and Evan with. I am certain you recall the soggy Evan lunch?” Boris said innocently.

“The…soggy…Evan…lunch?” Hank laughed hard, “That is so funny, Boris! I want to make that Evan’s new nickname: Soggy Evan!” Hank continued laughing.

Boris chuckled because Hank looked so happy and his laugh was somewhat infectious, “Please wait to call him that when we are the presence of others, Hank, it would be extremely amusing to see everyone’s reactions.”

They laughed together and nodded their heads as they talked about that scenario coming to pass and they turned a few heads in the Café in their direction. People couldn’t help but look at two highly attractive and well-dressed men who laughed deeply and together over a private joke. 

Khalil and his team inside the restaurant were suddenly on alert as they saw people look in the direction of Boris and Hank. Boris noticed this and made the ‘stand down’ hand signal which would have essentially meant, in Hank’s terminology: ‘Calm down, guys, it’s okay, really’.

Hank finally caught his breath, took a drink of his tea, and then asked, “Okay, what were we talking about? Oh! Yeah, the Porsche…” Hank chuckled again.

Boris, too, took a sip of his coffee when he finally stopped laughing, and continued, “Ja, eh, I had considered giving the Porsche to Evan, but when he said he preferred his cars to be (Boris looked across the room briefly and pulled up the memory of that moment in his mind; Hank always enjoyed watching Boris’ expression change when he did that) “…fast and hot-looking…” I had a doubt. First off, however, the vehicle is fast as it is a Turbo Executive model, so it would fill his first requirement. However, Hank, you simply must explain further to me what ‘hot-looking’ means. I am not completely ignorant and have determined that the phrase means that the automobile needs to have a certain exciting presence and not, say, ready to burst into flames, am I correct?”

“I just love the way you have the most civilized way of saying things, Boris; and yes, you’re right. In Evan’s world, ‘hot-looking’ means that the car needs to be so amazing to look at that women would be falling all over him to get a ride in it,” Hank replied and chuckled again.

Boris tilted his head and looked at Hank for a moment. He took another sip of coffee and said, “Well, to me, it is certainly a handsome automobile, the triple black, metallic flake paint finish is exquisite to view in the sunlight, and the fact that I paid $98,251 for it, indicates that it is a valuable piece of quality machinery and that may fill in any gaps of Evan’s second requirement.”

Hank chuckled more at Boris’ justification process, “From what you are saying, you’ve just made the Panamera to be ‘hot-looking’ and I’m surprised that there weren’t any women falling all over you to get a ride in it.”

“Ah! But there was one who tried, eh, once in New York, but she could not get past Jon Michel and Yussef; she was quite embarrassed about the entire incident,” Boris said innocently as he pointed a finger in the air.

Hank burst out laughing again; Boris’ expression and shrugged shoulders was simply: ‘What did I say now?’

“Oh, gees, you are killing me today, Boris! I mean, you are SO funny today! It’s really considerate of you to think of giving the car to Evan. It’s really too much of a car for someone like him, though, and I’m not saying that in a mean way,” Hank said sincerely, “I meant that from a big brother point-of-view. You could always offer it to him and see what he says. If you do that, just be prepared to watch for about four or five expressions cross his face at the same time. It’ll be a miracle if he doesn’t explode from this.”

“Duly noted, thank you for the warning; I do have a back-up plan,” Boris offered.

“What’s your back-up plan?” Hank asked with curiosity.

“To sell the vehicle outright and simply give him the money with the stipulation that he must purchase a vehicle of his own choosing, one that would fit better into his “fast and hot-looking” parameters, and take the lion’s share to invest some of it for his future,” Boris said in his business voice.

“That’s a great idea; and extremely generous, may I make a suggestion?” Hank asked.

“Surely,” Boris said, intrigued, taking another sip of coffee, “I know that I do not give Evan much except for perhaps…cause to fear me, so this is my way of trying to be a better brother-in-law, however feeble it may appear.”

“You’re overly generous and silly as well, Boris; anyway, I would present both of these aspects to him at the same time, so he can make the best decision for himself,” Hank stated, “It will be a great learning experience for him. He’ll probably offer you his left kidney in dramatic thanks.”

“But, Hank, I do not need another kidney; you told me that both of mine are functioning perfectly,” Boris said plainly and then it dawned on him what Hank meant and his eyebrows went up, “Ah! I understand now what you are saying...”

Meanwhile, Hank tried to hold in another burst of laughter and failed.

 

The temperature had dropped considerably throughout the latter part of the day and it became much too cold for Boris and Hank to sit out on the Meditation Terrace to comfortably enjoy a late evening port wine and cigars no matter how much bundling up they did. Hank said it was so cold outside that they would have to make a bonfire the size of the entire Terrace.

So they decided to end their day in front of the fireplace in the Main Living Room. Boris built a fire and soon the stones were radiating off a heat that gently filled the better portion of the vast room. They decided to sit together on the leather couch instead of on their individual chairs. Hank poured them each a snifter of the 40 year-old tawny from W&J Grahams; Boris didn’t allow anyone to smoke inside the main house, including himself, so cigars were ‘off the menu’ (Boris’ words) that evening. 

They settled on the couch, made a toast and chuckled together about the soon-to-be ‘Soggy Evan’ as they enjoyed the first sip of the aged tawny, the bottle just opened that evening. 

“This tawny port is as supple as the leather we are seated upon, Hank, utterly delightful,” Boris said with awe.

Hank nodded in agreement, “Hmmm,” he said as he stared at the fire and felt warmth both from inside and out. Hank was very happy as it had turned out to be a wonderful day for both of them. He had hoped to bring Boris some joy after such an awful night.

Boris watched Hank and admired his profile and saw that Hank appeared to be deep in thought. Boris really wanted to talk about the attack but he didn’t want to break Hank’s current reverie. So he too, watched the fire and decided to wait until Hank spoke. Boris sipped his port wine and allowed himself to enjoy the silent moments.

After several minutes, Hank asked, “How are you feeling, Boris?”

“Well, I think well enough now with the fire, the port and the company,” Boris said with a slight smile.

Hank looked at Boris and smiled as well.

“It is…” Boris paused and offered tentatively, “Comforting to know that with everything that happened last night, I do not appear to have any lingering negative effects. I should like to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Hank,” he paused again, “…eh, for your care once again.”

Hank looked into his glass for a moment and then looked at Boris, “You’re welcome but you don’t ever have to thank me. I’m going to try and quote a great man I know by saying: “My actions are driven because of my love for you,” and, of course, as part of my solemn Hippocratic promise that ‘I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required’.”

Boris closed his eyes a moment (Boris recalled saying those quoted words to Hank after the wonderful private time they had together in the Library recently). He experienced a feeling of a knot in his throat and pressure behind his eyes that welled up inside of him as he felt an immense wave of emotion. Something else then also clicked deep inside of Boris, which he didn’t yet notice. Boris did notice that this emotional feeling occurred at moments when everything in his life was about, with, and for Hank. ‘Good lord, I am so grateful, and he is MY husband,’ Boris thought.

“You know, I was really concerned this morning when you had obvious difficulty waking up. It wasn’t usual for you to be so slow to focus your eyes or just be aware of your surroundings. You also showed one of the symptoms you show when you’re exhausted and I started to worry that something else was happening, but as the day wore on, you perked right up,” Hank admitted, “I believe all of that was an after effect of the anxiety attack and definitely not the inhalant. I really didn’t want to use the inhalant…” Hank shook his head and continued, “That was the worst attack I have ever seen hit you; you’ve never passed out before. You literally just shut down and your body and your mind wanted you to stay down. You weren’t in charge any longer, that’s why you couldn’t remember what to do to fight it.”

“Ja, I understand; it was physically painful to awaken this morning; I just wanted…to give up and be dragged back down into wherever it was that you were pulling me out of. So very strange,” Boris said quietly.

“Answer me truthfully now, Boris, have you had any anxiety attacks since that night we first became companions that you haven’t told me about?” Hank asked as he turned and looked at Boris directly.

“Eh, yes,” Boris said honestly and met Hank’s gaze, “There have been times when…it…threatened me, but I can only recall two times that had occurred very strongly and that I was able to control it on my own,” Boris looked down into his glass, then continued, “I did not tell you about those times because…I…was ashamed and…” Boris looked up and directly at Hank, his eyes silver in the firelight, “I apologize sincerely for not sharing that information with you.”

They were silent a few moments as they both looked back at the fire.

“I understand how private you are, Tree, I don’t expect you to change; gees, I don’t want you to change. As the song goes, ‘I love you just the way you are’. You and I are still learning what it’s like to be in a relationship like ours with all of our complications and uniqueness. We’ve both never had anything like this happen to us – ever. We don’t know what we’re doing, but we’re learning how to do this together, right?” Hank said openly. 

“Indeed, my beloved One,” Boris said as he nodded slightly.

“I hope that you never, ever experience anything like that attack again. This is the part of our life together that we just can’t hide from each other if we want to keep you healthy. You really can’t go through something like what happened last night ever again. I have learned some things from this experience and if anything even begins to show even the faintest hint of what went on last night, I know what to do now. From my point of view, I can tell you everything that went wrong last night, and that includes mistakes that I made. I am sorry about that and sincerely promise you that I will not let anything ever again to get in the way of our maintaining a healthy balance in you; I will focus only on you. And, I will need your word that you will follow my medical instructions to the letter, as well as to be completely transparent with me and tell me what you’re feeling or experiencing at the moment it is occurring.,” Hank said sternly.

“Ja, you have my word, Hank,” Boris replied firmly, “But you did nothing wrong, I should have excused myself from the dining room, which is something that a host never does; I thought about leaving, but I felt trapped by my very own sense of responsibility to our guests. I shall know better next time and take care of myself first. Good lord, if the attack would have happened full force in the dining room…that, eh, would have been difficult to explain away to our guests. I shudder to think of how embarrassed I would have been and how horrified they would have felt. For my own sake, I was so foolish.”

“What I did wrong, Boris, is that: a) I could have stopped the conversation cold when I saw your distress – but I didn’t, b) Joanne noticed that something was wrong with you and she was trying to get my attention about it which I didn’t follow through with – which I should have, and, c) I could have simply asked you to follow me outside of the dining room to get you away from the conversation completely. We had so many opportunities to avoid the trigger,” Hank offered.

“As you say, we have both learned a great deal from this experience,” Boris said as he lifted his chin and tried to feel brave, “I, for one, shall choose to be grateful for this lesson.”

Hank smiled at Boris as he felt so proud of him to take that kind of a positive attitude, “That makes two of us,” Hank said and raised his glass, “To lessons learned.”

Boris touched his glass with Hank’s and said, “And to the fortunate who learn those lessons.”

They both took a slow sip of the port.

“You know, Boris, you said something in your sleep this morning,” Hank said simply.

“I did? What did I say?” Boris was very curious and he felt a flutter of nervousness.

“I had to look it up, of course, you know I don’t understand Russian,” Hank offered.

“I am not surprised to hear that I spoke in Russian; sometimes all I hear in my head is either Russian or German; English puts up a good fight in there, too, and sometimes French gets in the way,” Boris said as he pointed to his head, “The curse of being multi-linguistic, I suppose…”

“Do you remember any dreams that you had?” Hank asked.

“Stop teasing me, Hank, what did I say?” Boris asked sternly.

“You said: ‘I must be free’,” Hank replied.

“Huh. Interesting,” Boris said slowly while he stared at the fire as he appeared to become thoughtful. He put his glass on the coffee table very gently and very slowly rose from the couch and walked over to tend the fire, “I do not remember having any dreams…” Silently, something tugged again at Boris from deep inside his mind as it moved...

On the upper level of his mind, Boris was thinking that he knew why he might have said what he said in his sleep. Boris had been thinking about several ideas, very big ideas, but since he had not worked the details out clearly yet, he wasn’t going to share them with Hank, not quite yet; oh, he would share, and even ask for Hank’s advice and Boris looked forward to that…

Something then yanked hard and fast at Boris…

At the same time Hank started to innocently ask (while he admired Boris as he stood next to the fireplace), “Do you want to be free of something, or, uh, free of someone, Boris?”

Boris froze, gripped the mantle with one hand, poked at the fire at little too forcefully, and stuttered, “Haaankk, I do do not fffeel well…”

Boris turned quickly away from the fire and looked at Hank suddenly in alarm (which put Hank suddenly on alarm as he didn’t understand what just happened to Boris’ demeanor and his mind still tried to register what Boris had stuttered); Boris put the poker back in the stand haphazardly and it fell onto the floor; Boris walked quickly back to the couch and sat next to Hank. He sat so close to Hank that his knees touched Hank’s and Boris grasped Hank’s hand that wasn’t holding the glass with both of his hands and held it firmly. 

Boris stared with intensity at Hank and said in a frantic tone, his hands were now shaking, “Hank, my beloved One, if you are thinking that I want to be free of you, please put that thought completely out of your mind this very moment. I shall never want to be free of you; nor shall I ever be free of you. If I die before you do, my spirit, my soul, my essence – whatever it is or what it is called – shall simply follow you around until the end of time. Please tell me…” Boris’ voice broke at that moment; he swallowed hard and looked down at his shaking hands which gripped Hank’s steady hand, he sighed and it was heavy and rattled in his chest, he continued, “Please tell me that you understand and believe what I am saying!” Boris looked back up at Hank and there were tears in his eyes.

“Oh God, Boris, no, I wasn’t thinking that at all!” Hank said with fear as he had been taken completely off guard; Hank quickly put his glass on the table and held Boris’ hands with his own, “Please, stop shaking, you have nothing to worry about!” 

Inside, Hank was now angry for ever bringing it up and stunned at how quickly whatever this was had hit Boris. 

“Please Boris, I just thought…” Hank stammered, “That…that you wanted to know that you said something in your sleep. I assumed you wanted to be free of the anxiety! Oh, please Boris, don’t cry…” 

Hank took his hands away from Boris’ shaking grip and held Boris’ face with his hands as he looked into those now very liquid grey eyes; he had never seen Boris so upset and in so much pain that he had tears in his eyes. “I love you, Boris, I always will, I will NEVER be free of you and you will NEVER be free of me! Please, Boris…shhhh, everything is just fine,” and then Hank moved quickly on the couch to hold Boris in his arms tightly.

Boris shook all over now and the tears spilled down his cheeks; he could not speak, nor did he make any sound except for his ragged breathing. He closed his eyes tightly and held onto Hank as if he would fall.

Hank cradled Boris fiercely, rocking back and forth, as he tried to imagine that Boris was being comforted by his love. Hank stroked Boris’ face, wiping the tears away and whispered to him, “You are my husband and you will be forever, just as I will be the same to you forever. Shhhh, now, breathe and try to calm yourself; shhhh, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to you and me.”

 

Udo had started to walk into the Main Living Room to check on the Masters at exactly the moment when Hank told Boris not to cry. Udo stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes became very wide and his expression became very worried. Udo backed up and looked around to see if there were any staff members nearby. Luckily, it was very late and everyone was off shift except for himself and whoever was in the Control Room. He turned and walked quickly to the Control Room; Udo knocked once, opened the door and found Daniel there. 

Daniel looked up at Udo with concern and the phone was in his hand, “Good evening, Sir. What’s going on? Are they okay? I was about to call you.”

“No, they are not, they need immediate privacy, would you please turn the cameras off in the Main Living Room and erase what is on the recorder since they sat down on the couch,” Udo said with urgency.

“Yes, Sir, of course,” and Daniel quickly did what he was instructed to do.

“Be complete in your nightly report, but be respectful of their privacy. Include in your report that I asked you to do this and that I will file my own report for Khalil’s records within the hour,” Udo stated.

“Yes, Sir. Is there anything else I can do to help?” Daniel asked.

Udo sighed and said, “No, we have done all that we can at this point. We just need to give them privacy. Something has happened and we just need to be available if they need us.”


	15. Rectify, Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Efforts made by both Boris and Hank to put things right, and to correct situations in dire need of attention, pay off more than they know.

Ten minutes passed and Boris had calmed; Hank still held him firmly and the tension finally left Boris’ body. Boris wiped his face lightly but with an angry motion, the fingers of his right hand swept across his eyes, and he shook his head angrily. He moved slightly and Hank released him so that he could sit upright, but Hank kept one hand on Boris’ thigh to show connection. Boris lightly covered Hank’s hand with his left hand.

Hank said quietly, “Let’s have a sip of the port, it will help…we’re almost done with our drinks anyway.”

Boris nodded his head, his expression tight, his jaw clenched; he whispered but did not look at Hank, “Will this pain never release me, Hank? I am…concerned…that it will kill me one day. I do not want to die now…”

“WE will make it release you and NO, I will NOT allow it to kill you,” Hank said firmly with a stern tone. Hank hoped that Boris would not think the sternness was directed at him.

They both took a final sip from their glasses and Hank put his glass down on the coffee table. Boris held his glass for a few moments more as he stared through the glass at the dying fire. Hank looked at Boris’ profile and could still see moisture in Boris’ eyes. Boris looked towards the ceiling as if willing the last of his tears to drain back into his eyes. He blinked, looked down and placed his glass ever so gently now on the coffee table. Boris looked at his open hand, his fingers curved slightly still from the shape of the glass; he took some comfort that his hand was not shaking any longer.

Boris looked sideways at Hank, now completely embarrassed at his raw expression of emotion. He had never cried before to anyone, in front of anyone, for anyone, or about anyone, even when... 

Anyone now, except for Hank. Boris felt ashamed that his greatest fear had risen to the surface - again, and that it felt free to bare him so roughly, and that it did so without his permission or even a warning. He wondered slightly and with faded hope that the anxiety had finally finished punishing him... 

“Come on, Boris, let’s go to our Apartment, lock our door, and keep the rest of the world away for a while,” Hank stood up slowly and looked down at Boris who stared at the fire again. 

Boris nodded his head slowly, but still said nothing; he stood up slowly but didn’t take a step. Hank tried to get Boris to look at him and Boris evaded his gaze. Boris tried to look strong as he stared across the room; his jaw was set.

Hank took his hands, reached upward and held Boris’ face with them, which forced Boris to look at Hank and Hank said softly, “You have given me a tremendous gift, Husband. I’m always going to remember this gift and someday I’ll get the opportunity to repay you in some way,” And as if Hank could read Boris’ mind, he said, “I know you’re embarrassed and I want you to know that you don’t have to ever be that with me. You’re stronger in my eyes now because you’ve shared with me something that you obviously haven’t shared with anyone else in the whole world. Come with me…”

Boris looked at Hank, said nothing, and walked with Hank out of the Living Room, down the corridor and into their Apartment. They walked in silence.

Hank closed and locked their door; Boris stood in the middle space between the door and their bed, as he still attempted to regain his pride and his usual regal bearing. Hank turned to see Boris as he composed himself by lifting his chin and straightening his jacket, which was already straight. Hank smiled at Boris with a loving, knowing smile which Hank hoped he would take strength from the unconditional love that he had for Boris. 

Boris smiled slightly at Hank, took a deep breath and said quietly, “I now believe that there was one after effect left by last night’s attack…an opening of a flood gate, as it were.”

 

A little while later that same night, there was love. The tender kind of love that could heal nearly any hurt and restore almost any loss. Boris was so formal when he asked for Hank’s affection that Hank did everything he could to make Boris laugh to lighten the somber mood. Hank wanted to hear Boris laugh the way he did when they were on their honeymoon. 

Hank reminded Boris of that moment: they were in Cape Town, in the soaking tub together, as they drank orange juice and talked about their new business cards. Hank explained to Boris how magical that was to him as he felt and heard Boris laugh deeply and openly. 

Although Boris said he would not be able to oblige with laughter that night, he just couldn’t find anything to be amused about, he promised Hank it would happen sometime soon. It wasn’t a night for laughter anyway, too much had happened over the course of the last 24 hours that both men just needed to be with each other, loving one another.

 

~~~

 

Two days, ‘two healing days’ (Hank’s words) passed for the two men. Boris was quiet, spoke and ate little, and spent most of his time looking out of a window whether it was in their Apartment, the Main Living Room, or his Office. Boris would stand in whatever shafts of sunlight would come through those windows and just stare outward, arms folded across his chest, one hand sometimes smoothing his now completely silver circle beard. Hank watched him closely and did his best to support Boris without giving Boris the impression that he was being coddled. 

Udo knew that Boris was suffering and wasn’t certain what he could do to make the situation less painful for his Master. This situation was somehow different than other times when Boris had become moody or distant. Udo asked Dr. Hank what could be done to alleviate the Master’s obvious internal conflict and Hank replied that he could only guess that Boris needed time to work things out in his head; Hank suggested that he and Udo just be watchful and available for Boris if he needed them. Udo expressed concern that Boris had become ill.

“No, I believe he is physically fine, for the most part. You know how he gets, Udo; sometimes he needs to think about things for a while,” Hank said with a caring tone in his voice.

“I know, Dr. Hank, you are right; I should like to tell you that I know something happened last night in the Main Living Room, but that I took steps to make certain that for both of you, your privacy had been secured,” Udo said quietly and nodded.

“Oh, you know about that, huh?” Hank paused, “Yeah, I said something that I thought was innocent enough, but it hit Boris and, well, something just, uh, exploded in his mind. So, no one else saw what happened?” Hank said sadly.

“Only Daniel as he was on duty and alone in the Control Room. On my direction, he shut off the cameras and erased the recordings from the point of time where you and He sat down to drink your port wine. Daniel is discreet,” Udo stated as he hoped to reassure Hank.

“Oh, okay, good. Yeah, I know that all of you are professional like that. If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now – I really appreciate that about everyone here,” Hank said sincerely with a small smile and a pat on Udo’s arm.

 

~~~

 

On the second afternoon, Boris assured Hank he was fine and persuaded Hank to go about his business in the Infirmary, but Boris went to the Pool Room. Hank thought that Boris had gone to his Office; well technically he did, however... 

Boris didn’t tell anyone where he went, not even Udo, but simply walked the corridors of the house. He greeted the staff that he met along the way as usual, and knew that he was being watched on the cameras, but simply didn’t care about any of that. He just wanted to be really alone with his thoughts and he sat on one of the patio chairs as he gazed out the windows and across the snow covered Lower Gardens. It was much colder inside the Pool Room than the rest of the house (they only raised the temperature in that room when they used it during the winter) and when he discovered that he didn’t know how to raise the air temperature in the Pool Room, he regretted not bringing a coat and gloves. He told himself to tough it out and just sat there quietly, with his hands curled up inside his corduroy sports jacket pockets and was mired in his embarrassment of what happened two nights before.

One part of Boris knew that he should not be embarrassed about crying, after all, it happened in front of Hank and Hank would be the only person in the world that he could, or would, even vaguely consider to do anything like that in front of; but the other part of Boris felt shattered and exposed so completely that he simply didn’t know what to do about it. He wasn’t prepared for this ‘embarrassing horror’ (Boris’ words) and didn’t know what to do next, even if that was just supposed to be to simply release it. This had never happened to him before.

Three hours passed and Boris was still in the Pool Room deep in thought, and he was now very cold but he ignored how his body felt; he ignored it when he shivered; he ignored his ragged breathing and when his teeth chattered; he ignored his hands when they didn’t want to move any more. His mind was busy as he tried to, as Hank would say, ‘just figure it all out’. The Pool Room’s air temperature hovered at forty-eight degrees and the easily-chilled Boris was dressed only for being inside the warmer part of the house.

 

Udo walked quickly into the Infirmary and he held Boris’ cell phone in his hand, “Dr. Hank, may I please have a moment of your time?” Udo said this with an urgency that could not be ignored.

Hank had just finished putting supplies away and he turned at the sound of Udo’s voice but what Hank saw on Udo’s face made him fearful.

“Sir, I went to check on the Master in his Office and bring him some hot coffee. He was not there and his phone,” Udo held out Boris’ phone, “Was on his desk.”

“What? Oh, gees, where is he?” Hank asked as he took the phone from Udo and put it in his pocket.

“I do not know, Sir, I thought he might be here. I have also checked your Apartment, the Music Room, and the Library and he is not in any of those areas. Staff members have told me that have not seen him in a while. We should go to the Control Room to check the cameras,” Udo said as Hank and Udo walked quickly to the Infirmary doorway.

 

In the Control Room, Jacob was on duty. He arranged the cameras to show on the screens as Hank and Udo looked on. They had multiple smaller screens which showed different views from different parts of the house and all of them attempted to watch multiple screens at the same time; there were more camera views than screens so they had to keep jumping back and forth.

Richard and Daniel radioed in from outside on the grounds that they had not seen Boris outside and they continued to search; Khalil used his field binoculars and looked out across the grounds from Boris’ Office windows – the best vantage point in the entire house; the six other security team members began to quickly walk the house to check other rooms.

“There! I see him!” Hank shouted and pointed at one of the screens, “Where is that? Oh, gees! He’s in the Pool Room! Crap, its cold in there!” Hank turned and ran out of the Control Room.

Udo followed, “And he is not wearing an outer coat; I will bring a blanket!” Udo shouted after Hank.

 

Hank ran down the corridors and into the Pool Room; he had run so fast that he had to grab onto the door frame to stop himself.

Boris sat with his elbows on his knees and his clenched fists in front of his mouth as he tried to use his breath to warm them as they had painfully stiffened into fists and were very pale. He looked up and straightened his back slowly, held his fists in his lap in a polite posture and said quietly, “Ah, hello, Hank.”

Dr. Hank came over to Boris quickly, knelt down and touched his face as he studied Boris. 

“I cannot quite get my hhhands to move at the mmmoment,” Boris said simply as he shook from the cold, “And your hhhand is hot, do you have a fffever?”

“No, Boris, I don’t have a fever. Don’t force your hands to move; so, what are you doing down here?” Hank asked and he tried to sound calm.

“I just nnneeded to think about thingsss, that is all,” Boris said as he shivered forcefully.

“Okay, well, how about we go and think about things where it’s warmer, like inside the warm part of the house, okay?” Hank suggested plainly and tried to hide the fact that he was alarmed.

Udo entered the room and carried a large, brown, thick blanket which he draped over Boris’ shoulders.

Boris looked up at Udo and smiled slightly, “Ah, thank you, Udo,” he said as he tried to hold the blanket with his clenched fists.

“Come on, Boris…there you go,” Hank said as he held the blanket closed at Boris’ chest; Boris stood up slowly, shivered and looked at Hank.

“Dddid I do something wrrrong?” Boris asked simply, shivered again, as Hank guided him towards the doorway with Udo close by.

“No, you just need to get warm now. Did you take your medication this morning?” Hank asked as he knew that Boris was very cold and that could easily and quickly (even more so for Boris) lead to hypothermia, which given that Boris was already on medication for hypothyroidism, and that those two ailments didn’t mix well, and that Hank didn’t recall seeing Boris take the pills that morning, he wanted to make sure.

“Yes, I did,” Boris stated, “May we gggo to the Mmmain Living Room?” Boris shivered again which knocked the blanket off of his shoulders.

Hank looked at Udo, as he pulled the blanket back up and around Boris, and Udo nodded, “There is a nice fire going in the fireplace there, Sir. I shall prepare some hot coffee for you and bring it to you, will that be all right?”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea, thanks Udo,” Hank said sincerely as Udo left them and Hank continued to slowly guide Boris further into the house.

“Why are you so wwworried, right now, Hank?” Boris asked and shivered and his clenched fists vibrated where he held them against his chest.

They had just entered a warmer part of the house and Boris stopped a moment and looked down at Hank as he waited for an answer. They stood close to each other as Hank was still holding the blanket closed at Boris’ chest.

“Remember? I worry about things and stuff and, uh, you,” Hank said as he looked up at Boris.

“I just gggot a little chilled,” Boris said innocently. 

“Uh, no, you got more than a little chilled, Boris; come on, let’s get you in front of the fire, okay?” Hank said gently as he pushed at Boris to walk.

Boris nodded and looked into Hank’s darkened blue eyes; he stated to say something and then shook his head, shivered again and continued to walk.

 

Hank got Boris seated in his chair in front of the fire and the blanket re-draped around his shoulders and then knelt down in front of Boris to look at his hands, which were still tightly clenched and now rested uselessly on Boris’ lap. 

Boris watched Hank as he took one hand and moved it slowly around at the wrist, then Hank rubbed the back and the palm and slowly coaxed Boris’ long fingers to straighten as he rubbed each digit as he went. Hank looked at Boris and smiled with compassion. The temperature difference between Hank’s hands and Boris’ hands was substantial. Hank remembered when he first came to live with and care for Boris just how cold Boris was back then, and at this moment, it was worse. After many moments of rubbing to restore the circulation back into Boris’ hands, Hank then placed the newly opened hand on Boris’ lap and then did the same movements with Boris’ other hand. 

When both hands were finally open and laid palm up in Boris’ lap, Hank said, “Now flex your fingers slowly for me, if it hurts, stop immediately.”

Boris did so and they heard faint popping sounds, specifically from Boris’ thumbs. They both smiled at each other as that was a very normal sound for Boris’ thumbs to make.

Udo came in with the cart and announced that there was not only hot coffee but Chef’s hot cocoa available to them.

Hank stood up, turned towards Udo and motioned for Boris to remain seated, “Thanks Udo.”

“You had best cancel the high alert,” Boris said suddenly and in a sullen tone as he looked into the fire.

Udo and Hank both looked at Boris with surprise.

“Ja, I know that I am in trouble and Khalil is going to be quite upset with me for not telling anyone where I went,” Boris said in a defeated tone of voice as he stared into the fire.

“All is well, Sirs, now. Please enjoy your beverages and let me know if there is anything else that you need,” Udo said kindly and with relief; he nodded to Hank and bowed slightly to both of them, turned and left them to their privacy. Udo had already notified Khalil and the stand down order had been received by all team members. Khalil was indeed not pleased and Udo now went to calm him.

Hank poured a cup of coffee for Boris and a cup of hot cocoa for himself. He sat down next to Boris in the other chair and asked, “How do you feel right now?”

“Warmer, and look, my hands are working again,” Boris said somewhat cheerfully as he held his coffee cup with both hands. Boris wasn’t about to trust just one hand at the moment with a cup of hot coffee (and Hank knew that, too).

“Just what were you thinking, Boris - to go to the Pool Room?” Hank asked and tried to not sound annoyed, but did.

“That is what I was doing…thinking,” Boris replied flatly.

“And you left your phone on your desk instead of taking it with you, that’s against house rules,” Hank scolded.

“I…forgot…about the phone,” Boris replied.

“Couldn’t you have picked a warmer spot in the house to think?” Hank said with a worried tone of voice.

“I suppose I could have,” Boris said quietly, paused, then said, “I…just do not know what to do about what I did the other night.”

Hank sighed and took a sip of his cocoa as he thought about it; he attempted to put himself in Boris’ place as he envisioned doing something so embarrassing that he couldn’t think straight or function normally. Hank then looked at Boris to find Boris looking back at him with a calm, yet expectant expression, with wide eyes, a tilt to his head and his coffee cup held with both hands in front of his mouth as if he was hiding behind it. Hank then realized just how shaken Boris had become; a pillar of a man had been reduced to tears and not privately. Hank thought, ‘If I had not been there, he might be just fine right now, a big ‘might’; but I was there, I did see his struggle and he is trying to come to grips with that embarrassment.’

Hank took another longer sip of his cocoa and stood up from his chair. He came over to Boris, knelt down in front of him and placed his cup on the side table. Boris also took a long sip of his coffee and placed his cup next to Hank’s cup. They looked at each other with open expressions. 

Hank took Boris’ hands and looked at them as Dr. Hank would look at them, he bent and flexed Boris’ fingers as he asked quietly, “How do they feel now?”

“They are normal again,” Boris replied as he continued to look at Hank with the same expression.

“Are you warm now?” Hank asked.

“Ja, may I have a sip of your cocoa?” Boris asked.

“Sure, here,” Hank picked up his cup, gave it to Boris and watched him drink.

Boris placed the cup back on the table and asked, “Should we defy convention and mix the cocoa and the coffee?”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds really nice, let me…” Hank started to say, but Boris stopped him in mid-sentence and from standing up as he gently placed his hands, one of each side of Hank’s bearded face and held him. Hank still knelt in front of Boris between his legs and had his hands on Boris’ thighs. 

Boris’ steel grey eyes never left Hank’s blue eyes; Boris blinked, and studied Hank’s face as he prepared himself; now with an expression of defeat on his face, Boris then said quietly and slowly, “You said that I was stronger now, in your eyes, because I had shared this…thing, er, that I wept…in your presence, ja?”

Hank nodded his head slowly and warily as he didn’t know where this was going to go and was now worried.

Boris then placed his hands on Hank’s shoulders and spoke tentatively, as he had never told anyone what he was about to tell Hank, “You were correct, Hank. I have never done…that…before; not even when…I was…beaten as a child. It was considered a grave weakness in my family, to feel any pain, or to know any sorrow, or suffer any loss, and to let it show like that…like what I did the other night.” 

Boris continued slowly, “As children, we experience a great deal of anguish because we simply do not know anything; as a child, I was no different. It was familial procedure, whilst I was a child…that any sign of weakness had to be driven out by whatever means so that strength, any form of strength, could take its place within. They told me that strength built greatness and character and because of what I was born into, I had no other choice but to learn this. I simply do not know why I wept…eh, I cannot find out why it happened that night; I had no control…”

Hank sat back on his heels but didn’t remove his hands from Boris’ thighs. Boris placed his hands on Hank’s hands and pushed them firmly onto his thighs.

Inside, Hank’s mind was screaming with frustration as he listened to Boris and Hank became angry towards those who made Boris, his husband and the love of his life suffer as a child and now, still decades later, as an adult.

“You are the first and only person to witness my weakness,” Boris sighed deeply and tried to smile at Hank, but only side of his mouth lifted and then it was gone, “I had not much happiness as a child, only fleeting moments here and there, Hank, and that is why I try to seek out life’s joys and enjoyments so fervently now as a grown man…er…to make up for lost time, I suppose. It is merely just something to do all of that on one’s own, and that I have done. When I found you and knew instinctively that we could share in this seeking, and enjoying, and helping others in need, together, and, well…” Boris then looked down at their hands on his thighs.

Boris sighed and said, “Do you still think of me strong, even though I showed weakness, Hank? It is important for me to ask you this and I shall be indebted to you for your honest answer no matter what the answer may be. You see, I find that you, who and what you are, are stronger than I am. If that is so, I understand and will accept my fate. I endeavor to be strong, like you, and then as usual, complications happen and then my physical frailties get in the way…eh…”

This time, Hank reached up and held Boris’ face gently with his hands and said, “Boris, yes, I will always think of you as strong; look at what you go through and you always come out on the other side! I am now even more grateful for your sharing this with me. Your notions of what strength really is are skewed by your upbringing and you have never had anyone in your life to be there for you, to understand you, to show you true kindness, or to help you. Your reality has now changed; you are learning to be free of that part of your history and since I am part of your new reality, please understand that I am here for you, always. How do you feel right now? And I don’t mean, whether you are warm, or how your hands feel or anything physical. I want you to tell me how you feel in here…”Hank gently touched Boris’ forehead with his left hand pointer finger, “And in here…” Hank touched Boris’ chest at his heart with his open left hand, “And in here…” Hank touched Boris’ abdomen with all of the fingertips on his left hand.

Boris thought for a moment and then replied slowly and calmly, “My mind seems to now be somewhat unfettered…my heart feels affection…and my intuition knows that…all is well at this moment.”

“Good! That is the correct series of answers. Your reward? Hmm, well, since I can’t kiss you right now,” Hank looked around the Main Living Room and saw a few of their staff going about their duties, “And I really want to kiss you right now, but instead I will make you a fresh cup of half coffee and half cocoa,” Hank said cheerfully.

 

~~~

 

“You shall be pleased to know, my beloved One, that there is one thing which I shall not be doing today,” Boris said as they got dressed for the new day. Boris finished buckling his belt.

“Oh? And what would that be, Tree?” Hank said as he looked up from tying his shoe.

“I will not be going to the Pool Room,” Boris stated with his chin held high and his usual slight smile on his face.

 

~~~

 

“Uh, seriously, Boris? You’re just giving this to me?” Evan asked with wonder, excitement, fear, enthusiasm and wariness; Evan’s face changed every second, “I’ve gotta sit down,” And Evan did sit down on the nearest thing, which happened to be the dining room table in the Guest House.

Boris looked over at Hank and shrugged his shoulders.

Hank said, “See, Boris? I told you he’d react this way.”

“Ja, so you did…” Boris said as he remembered their conversation, his eyebrows knitted together.

“So…let me get this straight, I have a choice to accept either your Porsche or the proceeds from the sale of the Porsche, so that I can go out and purchase the car that I prefer and put some money away for my future,” Evan said as he tried to imitate some of the phraseology that Boris used when he made the offer to Evan.

“Correct, Evan. As your brother-in-law, I just wanted to be kind and give you something,” Boris said with a slight smile as he attempted to look considerate and put Evan at ease. Boris knew that Evan feared him on several levels and at this point in time, Boris simply wanted to give his Husband’s brother something ‘very nice’. 

Boris now felt that Evan was just an excitable, modern-day young man, who truly meant no harm to anyone, and simply had the manners, enthusiasm, and the ego of a young man. At times, Boris simply couldn’t believe that Evan and Hank were brothers; they were quite different from one another (although there were certain moments when you could tell that they shared something in the same family by the similar use of language and the actions they showed).

And even if one considered the fact that Evan was educated and intelligent, he was nowhere near the level that Hank was, at least to Boris (although he knew his judgment was completely and pleasantly clouded because of his love for Hank); Hank was not only educated and intelligent but also brilliant, resourceful, deeply honest and cheerful, and possessed an old soul that knew a great deal and was merely starting to explore that; which to Boris, made Hank intriguing, a most worthy companion, a pure joy to be with, and (because Justine had said it to be so…) Boris’ soul mate.

“And you are not expecting me to repay you at any time or like, you know, give you my kidney or something?” Evan offered warily.

Boris looked over at Hank and tilted his head, eyes widening, as he held his hands out in front of him with palms up in a gesture of ‘Now just how the blazes did you know that would really happen’?

“I told you that he would say that, too,” Hank said with a chuckle as he nodded his head.

Boris took a deep breath and looked back at Evan as he returned into almost-Boris-business mode, which he felt was appropriate under the current circumstances, because if he went into his full business mode, Evan would most likely would become afraid, scream and run out of the room. 

Boris then had a brief mischievous thought of how amusing that would look just now...

“No, Evan, I am presenting this to you as a gift only,” Boris said in a friendly tone.

“Uh…wow…Boris, I don’t know what to say,” Evan said haltingly as he looked from Boris to Hank and then back to Boris again.

Hank suggested, “How about saying thank you, Evan?”

“Uh, yeah! Of course, thank you, Boris, thank you very much!” Evan said enthusiastically as he hopped off of the table and went over to Boris and hugged him enthusiastically.

Hank closed his eyes, smiled, and turned his head because he was at the verge of laughing as he watched Boris’ face grimace.

“Eh…” Boris said as he managed to appear to lightly hug Evan back and peel him away at the same time, “A handshake would have sufficed, Evan. You are welcome. If you need some time to make your decision, there is no rush. The Porsche is in the garage safely tucked away whilst this winter rages around us. If you wish to take it for a test drive, I would highly recommend, for your own safety and to keep the automobile intact, that you wait until the weather is clearer with not so much ice on the roads.”

Hank smiled again as he loved the way that Boris said the word: geh rahj.

“Sure, yeah, I’d like to think about this and make the best decision, which would be the mature thing to do, right Hank?” Evan said hoping that Hank would agree because this situation was just too big for Evan at the moment.

“Yes, it would, Evan; this is much more important than trying to decide which sweater to buy,” Hank replied laughingly, as he suddenly remembered Evan agonizing over a recent clothing purchase that Evan ‘just had to tell him about one afternoon’. 

“This is really awesome!” Evan exclaimed as he did one of his ‘happy dances’.

Boris grimaced again and then raised his chin up as he looked at Hank.

Hank just rolled his eyes and went to the fridge, opened it and said, “Is anyone thirsty?”

“Yeah, I’ll take a beer! Uh, how about you, Boris?” Evan asked.

“Just a glass of water, thank you,” Boris said.

The three of them went over to the living area and sat down in front of the fireplace to enjoy their beverages. Evan had actually made a nice, moderate fire and it warmed the area nicely. Evan usually made huge fires in that small fireplace which, at times, had threatened to burn the Guest House down until Boris actually taught Evan the proper way to make a fire. 

“Do you like the fire, Boris? I’ve been practicing the way you taught me,” Evan asked with the anticipation that Boris would approve.

“YOU taught Evan how to make a fire in the fireplace, Boris?” Hank said in both an amused and surprised tone of voice.

“Ja, I did. Evan, it is a very appropriate fire for this size of fireplace, you are doing very well. Hank, I came here one afternoon whilst you were in the Infirmary because I saw black smoke billowing from the chimney and thought our Guest House was on fire. Evan needed some…minor...instruction on how to create a perfect fire and it appears he is an apt pupil,” Boris stated. (Boris was being kind by using the word ‘minor’.)

Evan looked very pleased that Boris approved. It had turned into a great day for Evan; Boris had essentially given him a car and an A+ (in Evan’s mind) for his fire-building skills.

“Just remember, Evan, do not use spent popcorn bags as a means to light the fire,” Boris said as a teacher would kindly remind a student.

Hank burst out laughing and almost spilled his beer.

Evan and Boris looked at Hank with curiosity and then looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders at the same time.

 

~~~

 

Hank awoke but didn’t open his eyes just yet. He was comfortable and warm and he felt well-rested. He reached out a hand to touch Boris lightly, as he did every morning, and then realized that Boris wasn’t in bed. Hank’s eyes sprang open and he looked over to find that Boris was really not in bed. Hank sat up quickly and looked around their Apartment and saw Boris, in his pajamas, dressing gown, and slippers as he stood at the window in the seating area. Boris had opened only one side of the draperies and only half-way so that only a thin shaft of sunlight entered the immediate area and Boris stood in that sunlight. Boris gazed out the window, chin up, arms crossed in front of his chest and one hand smoothing his circle beard – a classic habit of his when he was deep in thought.

Hank wondered whether he should interrupt or not; but Hank’s natural curiosity – especially when it came to Boris – wouldn’t allow him to keep quiet and he said happily, “Good morning, Tree, are you okay?”

Boris turned and walked over to the bed as he replied, “Ah! Good morning, my beloved One. Ja, I am fine; some thoughts woke me and I thought it best to get up and deal with them, rather than toss and turn and awaken you. I hope that the sunlight did not disturb you, eh, in any case, it appears that I have done that anyway, and I am sorry for that.”

“No, you didn’t wake me, I woke up on my own,” Hank said as he watched Boris come over to him.

Boris sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss Hank, who responded with equal emotion. Hank touched Boris’ shoulder and Boris touched Hank’s bearded cheek as they smiled at each other and then pulled away slightly.

“So, what’s up? Would you like to talk about it or do you need to think about it some more?” Hank asked gently.

“I have been up since before dawn; I thank you for asking, and I am hopeful that I could talk with you about it,” Boris said somewhat formally as he looked down at the paisley pattern of his dressing gown.

Hank settled into a cross-legged sitting position on the bed and with an eager face, he said, “What’s on your mind?”

“I have made a promise which I am unable to keep,” Boris stated.

“Well, uh, that happens, you know. Life kinda gets in the way sometimes, life changes things; I hope that no one is going to get hurt though if you don’t keep that promise,” Hank replied.

“Oh, no, nothing of that sort; it is just that I tend to take the making of promises very seriously and am usually able to keep the promises which I make. This time, I am pained to say that I simply cannot,” Boris admitted as he looked back at Hank.

Hank searched Boris’ eyes and his expression; Hank was so proud of Boris at that moment for confiding in him – Boris was getting better at sharing thoughts and ideas at their beginnings in his mind rather than at the end of the situations. Hank knew that Boris did take promises seriously, almost to his personal detriment at times and sometimes, it had been the cause of excessive strife in Boris’ life. Hank was also in awe of Boris’ sense of honor and duty.

Hank smiled, his eyes were bright and he decided to get to the point as he could tell that Boris still needed to be prompted, “Okay, so what was the promise, who did you make the promise to, and why are you unable to follow through with it?”

Boris smiled slightly and replied, “When you look at me like that, I am powerless to hold anything from you. How do you manage this?”

“Stop stalling and answer my questions, Boris, let’s get this out,” Hank said cheerfully and sternly (a combination which Hank had learned to do since his life had begun with Boris).

“I made a promise that you and I would go and visit President Albert in Bonn during the winter holidays, which is currently now, and I find that I do not want to leave Shadow Pond at this time,” Boris said sincerely.

Hank was relieved and showed it on his face. He thought it was something much more serious.

“I really don’t think that President Albert is going to be so angry over us not visiting him that he’ll stop being your friend. I think that he will understand. Have you told him yet?” Hank asked.

“No, I wanted to speak with you first,” Boris admitted.

“Thank you, I appreciate that. I have to ask you, though, what is your reason for not wanting to leave Shadow Pond?” Hank asked as he wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything deep that Boris may need some support with.

Boris looked around their Apartment with a calm expression and said with a slight smile, “This house, the grounds, they are my sanctuary; our staff feels more like my family than my own blood, and I feel that I refresh my strength here. I feel safe here. Since we returned from our honeymoon, a great deal has happened, and I feel I need more time to…heal…before I venture out into the world again. This year has been…more of a year than I believe I have ever had in my life. I am happy to be here, at home, with you, and I truly do not want to go anywhere else right now,” Boris admitted.

“Come here,” Hank said with compassion as he moved to a position where he could hold Boris comfortably and they could lounge together on the bed. There was always something deep with Boris…

Boris moved to be cradled by Hank, but got tangled slightly in his dressing gown. He put up a pointer finger as if to say ‘one moment’, stood up, removed the gown and his slippers and climbed back into bed. They settled in together and Boris pulled the blankets up to their waists; Boris put his head on Hank’s shoulder and his right hand on Hank’s chest and they held each other lovingly.

“I completely understand what you’re talking about. If that’s how you feel, then you have to go with that. Boris, you have to honor your own needs more often,” Hank said and kissed Boris’ head, “You always provide for everyone else except yourself and…”

“And because of that, it is a wonder that I am not more of a, how do you say, ‘mess’ than I really am?” Boris interrupted Hank.

“No, silly, I wasn’t going to say that,” Hank said quickly, (although he had thought about it a couple of times over the past eight months), “What I WAS going to say was that it’s about time that you put your needs first…for a change.”

“Ja,” Boris said simply, “And...”

“And?” Hank asked.

“I have felt much better since we have…been dealing…” Boris paused.

Hank said nothing; he just waited and stroked Boris’ hair.

“…with the anxiety and I feel that I am…near to a resolution. Going to Bonn may stir up something untoward in…me…right now, and I do not want that to happen,” Boris said slowly as if he watched to see how he, himself, would react to his own verbalizing of the situation.

“This is a good decision you’ve made, Boris, may I make a suggestion,” Hank offered.

“Of course, please, always say what is on your mind,” Boris replied.

“Contact Albert today and get this over with so you don’t have to think about it anymore. How can I help?” Hank asked.

“Albert sent me an email asking when we would be arriving, so perhaps you can assist me by reading my email response,” Boris asked, “Eh, to make certain it is appropriate, before I send it?”

Hank smiled slightly, his cheek was against Boris’ head, and said, “Sure, I can do that.” Hank was proud of Boris for sharing this him, but he could feel Boris’ tentativeness; it was if Boris was handling blown glass and was afraid to break anything. Hank made a mental note to keep an eye on Boris as this type of apprehension wasn’t really normal for him. Boris was usually very decisive and direct.

“I have already written the email, I just have not sent it yet,” Boris stated.

Hank thought, ‘Good for him, he hasn’t lost his courage completely.’

“I’m glad to hear that you had already made your decision, that’s really good; and I am very proud of you for sharing this with me. I know this is a challenge for you and you are getting better at it, I can see it. Just watch, when you hit the send button, you will feel that a weight has been taken off of your shoulders,” Hank said sincerely.

Hank continued, “You know, we’ve got a new year coming up and we can use the change in the calendar to be the starting point for the next chapter in our life together. This next year is going to be the year that we will remove the stresses that have plagued you for way too long. I know that I’ve heard you say this before,” Hank paused, “That you felt reborn, do you remember that?”

Boris said, “I do recall that moment, it was…magnificent.”

“I want you to get to a point where you not only feel it, but know it in your bones and I want to see it shine from you! Everyone once in a while, you do get this expression on your face that I’m almost sure that when people see it, they are wondering just what the hell you are thinking about, and what the hell you are up to, and why are you so happy. Next year, that expression is going to be on your face for more times than not,” Hank said enthusiastically.

“You have that look upon your face throughout most every day; except of course, when you are worried about or taking care of me,” Boris said.

“Ha, you’re right. It’s because I feel joy; I’m happy to be what I am and where I’m at; I’m going to share that with everyone, whenever I can!” Hank said, “Including you, whether you like or not.” Hank hugged Boris a little tighter.

Boris turned his head to look at Hank and silently studied his face and his eyes for a few moments. Boris smiled slightly and his eyes sparkled a little.

Hank said with a silly expression, “What? Did I forget to take off my makeup or something? Clowns forget to do that sometimes… Do I look weird?” 

Boris chuckled, put his head down on Hank’s chest and wrapped his arm around Hank’s torso, chuckled again, and then held Hank a little tighter.

Hanks chuckled as well, and said, “Okay, so don’t tell me why you looked at me like that. You will probably always win at the don’t-tell-Hank-everything game, but that’s okay, because I’m never going to give up on you. I will wear you down, mister.”

“Hmmm,” Boris murmured, “Wear me down…what a novel concept...”

 

They got ready for their day and stopped at Boris’ Office before breakfast. Boris felt that taking care of the situation at hand right away would help ease his mind and that he might better enjoy his breakfast. Hank eagerly endorsed the idea. 

Boris pulled up the email and since it was written in German, he translated Albert’s message and his own reply. Hank asked Boris to read the email to him first in German and then again in English.

Boris asked, “Why do you wish me to do that?”

“Because you’re so sexy hot when you speak other languages,” Hank said plainly.

“Stop teasing me,” Boris said with a frown and his eyebrows knitted together.

“I’m NOT teasing you,” Hank said with the most honest face he could show.

Boris did as Hank asked and Hank sat there and looked at Boris for a few moments; Boris looked at Hank and started to worry. 

“What did I do wrong?” Boris asked.

“Oh! Nothing! You did nothing wrong, Boris! I’m sorry…I don’t think that I’ve ever heard anything so incredibly diplomatic, kind, and appropriate! Wow!” Hank said enthusiastically.

Hesitantly, Boris asked, “Should I change anything?”

Hank shook his head and smiled widely, “No, I don’t think so. You have managed to say so much with few words. If I was Albert, I would be very proud to have you as my friend. I like the way you left it open about visiting next year, very classy.”

Boris smiled somewhat shyly, looked down at his hands on the keyboard for a moment, and then he moved his finger on the touch pad that allowed him to move the pointer on the screen over to the ‘send’ button and clicked it.

“There. Done,” Boris said and he took a deep breath as he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, Hank was looking at him.

“Come on, Tree, let’s go have breakfast! I think its pancake day!” Hank said happily as he stood up.

 

It was late before they both got ready for bed that night because Hank wanted to watch a movie after dinner. He promised Boris that watching a funny movie would be enjoyable for both of them and they could end the day with a laugh. 

One of the things that Boris did for Hank, just after Hank’s birthday party, was to have a room in the Main House converted into a professionally-appointed Media Room. Boris had learned, early on, that Hank enjoyed watching television and movies and even concerts. Boris himself didn’t much have an interest in any of this, but since all of it made Hank happy, that made Boris happy. 

Of course, everything was top-of-the-line equipment (Boris always required the best) and very comfortable theatre seating was also installed. Boris involved Hank in the project from day one, since it was ‘his’ room; Hank’s initial shyness over being spoiled by his new companion eventually wore off but only after Boris had to remind Hank regularly that it pleased Boris immensely to do so. The two enjoyed choosing together how the room would be, from the burgundy and pewter color scheme (Boris’ choice) to the customized control board (Hank’s choice) that was installed next to ‘Hank’s Chair’ so that he could control everything from where he sat. Hank tried to teach Boris how to run the board, but Boris would have nothing to do with it citing that he, “…would probably destroy the contraption simply by pushing a single and incorrect button.” 

Over time, and on occasion, Hank could talk Boris into watching a movie or some type of performance in the Media Room, and Hank learned (much to his surprise on some things) that Boris seemed to mostly enjoy Westerns, Historical Epics, Operas and Ballets, and sometimes Comedies – but very specific comedy. Hank had to carefully gauge Boris’ reactions because if Boris didn’t like something, he would simply say to Hank as he rose from his seat, “No, thank you, Hank, not today.”

That night, Hank chose ‘Night at the Museum’ which starred Ben Stiller. Hank thought that something ridiculous would be welcomed (and the movie did have historical references and characters, as well as cowboys) and to Hank’s amazement, Boris enjoyed it very much and laughed quite often. 

 

Boris had just finished brushing his teeth and he started to chuckle to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Hank asked as he dried his face with a towel.

“Ah, I was just thinking about the movie; very delightful, thank you, Hank,” Boris said.

“Do you have a favorite character in the movie?” Hank asked.

“Ja, indeed, Attila the Hun, very amusing,” Boris said and he chuckled again.

“I just love it when you laugh,” Hank said and he stepped over to Boris and embraced him, “I promised that watching a funny movie would be a great way to end today.”

“Hmmm, promises, ja,” Boris became thoughtful as he wrapped his arms around Hank and held him close; “We have made many promises to each other, have we not?”

“Yeah, starting with the best promise ever – to take care of each other,” Hank said from Boris’ shoulder.

 

~~~

 

A ‘Nor Easter’ had rolled into the Eastern Coast of the United States and the storm blanketed everywhere with a thick layer of snow and ice and it brought along howling frigid winds. When this happened, it was best to stay indoors and keep as warm and as dry as possible. Shadow Pond was battened down and provisioned well for these types of winter storms. The staff was quite efficient at planning ahead for this type of weather; they had had a lot of practice over the years.

The storm had begun the day before last and was now a full-blown storm. Hank had sent Nurse Joanne home before the storm began and asked her to stay home and safe until the weather cleared. She was on-call though to be prepared to get to Hamptons Heritage, that location always took precedence. The hospital sent out police squad cars to gather up staff if necessary; it was safer that way to get the necessary medical professionals to the hospital when they were needed. Joanne lived closer to the hospital than she did to Shadow Pond, so she wanted to be home - just in case.

It was late afternoon, but the sky was so dark it appeared to be evening. Boris had prepared a special treat for Hank. He had pretended to go to his Office, while Hank went to the Infirmary. Boris had returned back to their Apartment after he had stopped by the kitchen to gather supplies. 

Everyone on staff had been fed well that afternoon and because the storm had increased and was not expected to cease until morning, the evening meal was prepared and packaged so that all staff could take it with them and enjoy it while they stayed warm and safe in their individual rooms. 

Boris had the kitchen all to himself to raid for his plan and found wonderful items which he knew Hank would enjoy. Boris had not been in the kitchen for a long while and always found the place immaculate and interesting. Even though the ovens were off, it was probably still the warmest place in Shadow Pond due to that the gas pilot lights were always on. Boris enjoyed the additional warmth. He thought again of his plan to cook a meal for Hank sometime soon…

Boris’ next stop was the wine cellar and it was very cold down there. Boris had to put on one of the parkas to go into the cellar, as it was beyond what he could actually tolerate even wearing the heavier, layered clothing that he wore that day. He was concerned that the reds were too cold, but saw that the humidity was moderate and stable and that put his mind at ease.

Everything was now at the ready in their Apartment and Boris simply waited for Hank while he read a book, and enjoyed the sound of the crackling fire which he had built in the fireplace. The fire had begun to finally take the chill out of the air in the Apartment and he was pleased at that. The Pendleton sweater and collared shirt, the thick cotton undershirt, wool sports jacket and the heavy corduroy trousers that Boris wore kept him just barely comfortable. The scent of the burning cedar and pine wood from the fire was very delightful to him and so he ignored the chill.

When Hank finished his work, he went up to Boris’ Office to get Boris and end his work day, and found only one lamp on at the desk. Boris’ desk was also cleared of paperwork and his laptop was closed and asleep. Boris never kept a cluttered desk, like Hank often did, but Boris’ desk that afternoon was devoid of anything that even closely resembled work and it looked like it hadn’t been touched in a quite a while.

Hank usually had to drag Boris away from his desk and his work. He chided himself for not bringing his cell phone with him; otherwise Hank would have called Boris that very moment to locate him. For a moment, Hank had to remember where he left his cell phone and thought that it was probably on the nightstand where he usually left it. As he rubbed his arms and wished that he had put on a thicker sweater, Hank went off to other places in the house in search of Boris. 

As Hank walked quickly through the empty and now chilly halls of Shadow Pond as he searched for Boris, he thought about how eerie the house was when it was unoccupied. The in-floor heating system kept the intense cold temperatures away, but hearing the storm as it howled outside made him feel colder.

Most of the enormous house was darkened, except for a few lamps left on here and there that allowed for safe walking. The staff, including Udo, was all settled in the comforts of their own apartments within the house to wait it out until the majority of the storm had passed. Heavy velvet curtains had been hung on all of the windows of the house to further keep the drafts out. Those curtains muffled the sound of any footsteps within the house as well. This was standard operating procedure for winter storms at Shadow Pond.

Hank thought to himself, ‘Where is Boris?’ Hank went to the Music Room, and then the Library, no luck in either location. Hank knew that Boris would not be down in the Pool Room, so Hank didn’t go there; he remembered the last time Boris went MIA in the house and they found him in the Pool Room somewhat frozen, but that was an entirely different situation altogether and things had become much better for Boris since that time. 

Hank became more concerned as this now had become very unusual.

Hank thought, ‘Maybe he went to the Kitchen,’ then Hank immediately thought, ‘He doesn’t eat, so why would he go there?’

Hank hoped that Boris was back at their Apartment and keeping warm; Hank was quite chilled at this point, and trotted quickly to their Apartment. ‘I’ve got to layer my clothing better, like Boris does,’ Hank thought to himself. 

When he entered their Apartment, he saw a friendly fire in the fireplace as well as an amazing arrangement of blankets, cushions and pillows set in front of the fireplace on the floor. It looked very inviting to Hank.

Boris spoke from where he sat in his chair in the seating area, where he had been reading by the light of a single lamp, “Ah, I was wondering when you would return, my beloved One. Please close and lock the door, will you?”

“Wow! This is nice, Tree! I tried to find you and went to your Office, the Music Room and the Library,” Hank said as he locked the door, “I should have known you’d be here.”

Boris got up from the chair, put the book and reading glasses on the side table, and turned the light off. He walked over to the fireplace area and asked, “Care to join me? I thought this may be a pleasant way for us to wait out the storm together,” Boris was somewhat backlit by the fire and his entire tall silhouette lent an air of mystery. He held one hand outward towards the pillows.

As Hank approached, he saw a bottle of red wine, two crystal glasses and a basket filled with cheeses, breads, fruit, chocolates, and thermoses - which probably held hot coffee.

“It is not quite a formal picnic, nor is any of the food heated, but it may suffice for our needs today, ja?” Boris said calmly and with that silkiness to his voice which Hank adored.

“Boris, I think you are the only person in the world who can use the words ‘formal’ and ‘picnic’ in the same sentence and make it not sound mutually exclusive as those words should be,” Hank chuckled as he walked over to where Boris was by the fire and they embraced.

“Oh, good lord, Hank, you are chilled from walking the halls; let us get warm and comfortable, shall we?” Boris suggested as he rubbed Hank’s upper arms with his hands.

They settled down on top of the cushions and they each removed only their boots, it was far too cold to go barefoot. Hank always admired how Boris could fold those long legs of his so effortlessly. Hank said, “This is really nice, Boris, thank you,” He smiled at Boris and Boris smiled back. Hank leaned back on the pillows slightly and Boris pulled up the thick blankets which lay in front of them and covered their feet and legs.

Boris reached forward to open and pour the wine; and then he moved the basket of food closer to them. He asked, “How did your work go in the Infirmary? I suppose you are wondering where your cell phone is.”

“I finished up, everything was fine. Did I leave it on the nightstand again?” Hank asked taking the wine glass that Boris offered him.

“Well, you did leave it there, but then I placed it in the drawer so that you would not be reminded to take it with you. I wanted you to go on a hunt, although I do apologize that you got chilled. I had neglected to remember that you only wore that thin sweater today. I should have reminded you to dress more warmly,” Boris stated as he held up his wine glass in a toast, “To warmth.”

“To warmth,” Hank repeated as they touched glasses and both took a sip.

“Is this a cabernet?” Hank asked.

“Very good, your palate is becoming educated,” Boris said cheerfully.

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, Boris, I’d say you were trying to seduce me,” Hank said innocently.

“Not as far as you know…” Boris replied slyly as he reached over to caress Hank’s bearded cheek.

 

Much later that night, after wine and food and coffee and chocolates, and after three logs had been placed on the fire to keep the deep cold away, Boris and Hank were finally and comfortably settled in and on the cushions and pillows and buried under multiple blankets. There had been an attempt by both of them to stay naked…afterwards…which was, as Boris said, “…a good deal of fun…” but the storm outside raged loudly and that made them feel colder. Hank was concerned that Boris would catch a chill and suggested that they put their bedclothes on to help stay warmer; and so he ran naked across the Apartment, grabbed their pajamas, robes, slippers and even socks from the Closet Room, ran back and nearly dove underneath the covers to get warm again. Boris laughed with enthusiasm at Hank’s antics. They made a game out of who could get dressed in bedclothes the fastest and Hank won that contest. 

“You cheated, Hank, your clothing has no buttons as mine does,” Boris said with a frown as he sat there amidst the cushions, pillows and blankets with his pajama shirt still open, his fingers holding onto a button with one hand and its matching button hole with the other hand, and the silver hair on his chest quite visible.

“Here, let me help you with those buttons,” Hank said slyly as he took every opportunity that he could to be able to run his fingers through Boris’ soft chest hair. 

“How do you call this help?” Boris asked as Hank pushed Boris back down into the cushions…

 

~~~

 

Hank walked into Boris’ office whistling yet another Christmas song; this time, it was ‘Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow’ by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. It was actually snowing outside, but it was that kind of snow fall which was beautiful and gentle and covered every surface in fluffy white crystals. The branches of the large manicured trees of Shadow Pond in the Formal Gardens, visible from Boris’ Office window, were covered in snow; and even though the trees were barren of leaves now, they looked like sculptures. 

Hank sat down on the one of the couches which was nearest to Boris’ desk as Boris looked up from his laptop, tilted his head and smiled at Hank. Hank finished the song and spread his arms out wide as if to say ‘ta da’!

Boris applauded lightly and said, “Bravo. My goodness, Hank, you are in a light-hearted mood this afternoon. Any reason for the extra…hmmm…happiness?”

“Nope! It’s just a great day. Did you see the snow falling outside? It’s really gorgeous and I stepped outside...” Hank said.

“Without a coat and a scarf, I presume,” Boris interrupted, as he looked briefly back at his laptop.

“No, I did put on a coat, and it was only for a few moments. It is so mild outside that I thought we could go for a walk,” Hank suggested.

“Well, perhaps in a short while. I am in the middle of some business right now with Bhaisajyaguru and the internet connection is infrequent so it is taking longer for me to have a conversation with Director Jungney,” Boris replied.

“Oh, that’s your hospital in Tibet! Cool! Is everything okay there?” Hank said.

“It is OUR hospital in Tibet, Hank,” Boris said smiling, “And yes, most things are fine, however, I believe they are having issues with receiving their medical supplies in a timely manner.”

“Yeah, our hospital, right; tell me again what the name means?” Hank said with curiosity.

“Bhaisajyaguru refers to the ‘Medicine Buddha’, the Buddha associated with healing,” Boris said, “Ah, here is Jungney’s reply…” and he focused on the laptop screen for a few moments reading.

Hank watched Boris’ expression as he read the message; Boris concentrated and his eyes would move from the screen then to a corner of his desk and then back to the screen. Hank could tell that Boris was working on the translation of Tibetan in his mind to, Hank guessed, maybe English. Boris nodded his head and looked at his hands, typed quickly and then looked briefly at Hank, then back to the screen, typing again, obviously in thought.

Hank tried hard to never interrupt Boris during his business hours, but because this was hospital and medical-related, Hank’s curiosity got the better of him and he said, “So, what’s going on?”

“Ah, yes, well, the expansion of the hospital is nearly complete; they had some weather issues which caused delays, but Jungney said that they, er, were very creative in the use of tarpaulins for walls, until the walls were actually built, especially in the new surgery center,” Boris paused a moment and he typed again briefly, then looked at Hank and continued, “Where they are having the most issue with is the regular delivery of the medical supplies which we send them. It appears that deliveries can be as infrequent as this internet connection is,” Boris pointed to the computer and looked frustrated.

“That’s awful, hospitals need supplies,” Hank said and he shook his head.

“I am going to double the supply orders to try and make up for the infrequencies in deliveries, which may help them. So far, Jungney said that what we order for them does arrive intact, so currently there is no theft involved, which is very good. I would rather for them to have too much than too little,” Boris said, typing again, “I told Jungney that we can have additional, secure storage areas built for them, too, to house the extra supplies.”

“When was the last time that you visited the hospital?” Hank asked.

Boris was slow to respond, not because he was typing or translating, but because he wasn’t sure how to answer Hank’s question. It was complicated, Boris thought, ‘Sometimes everything in my life seems to have complications.’

“Boris? Are you okay?” Hank asked because he saw something flicker across Boris’ face.

“Ah, ja, it has been six years since I was actually there,” Boris said as he decided to be open with Hank. 

For a fraction of a moment, Boris remembered that he could do that (and was encouraged by Hank) and he surprised himself with that thought; he truly could be transparent with the one person who mattered to him more than anyone (or anything) in the world. Boris thought to himself, ‘This feels strange to me - will I ever get accustomed to this and how shall I do this correctly.’ Boris then stared across the room at a bookcase for a moment; he continued when he met Hank’s gaze again, “I am most helpful to them from here at Shadow Pond.”

Hank had patiently waited for Boris’ reply and he watched the subtle changes that he now knew cross Boris’ face. “Really? I’m sure they’d love to have a visit from their benefactors, we should go together. You’ve shown me photos of the hospital; it would be wonderful to meet the doctors, the staff and some of the patients, in person,” Hank said enthusiastically.

“No, Hank, I must do what I can from here,” Boris said quietly.

Hank got that look on his face when he needed to urge Boris into giving him more information. 

Boris looked down at his hands which were resting on the laptop’s keyboard and said, “I know that expression of yours. If you must know…”

“Yes, I need to know what is going on with you about this, and you ARE going to tell me about it right now,” Hank said firmly.

With that tone of Hank’s voice, Boris knew what his responsibility was at that moment and began with all honesty, “I cannot go to Tibet, Hank. I must help by sending money, supplies, and equipment from here. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, the last time I went to Bhaisajyaguru…the suffering, the starvation, the pain I saw there was, and still is to a large degree, very great and…I fell into a…melancholy…which lasted nearly a half year. I did not have the intensive care then, that you provide me now, when I get like that, so you can imagine that it was…difficult.”

“Oh, I didn’t know, I’m sorry,” Hank said gently and looked down so that Boris couldn’t see his expression. Hank had a light bulb moment and filed what Boris said about “…the starvation…” away in his mind so that he could think about this more in depth later on his own.

Boris rose from his desk chair and walked over to Hank at the couch and then sat down next to Hank, he continued with his chin up and a confident look on his face, “However, if your desire to go is that strong, you most certainly can as I will never stand in the way of what makes you happy, and I know you must answer your physician’s calling. I greatly respect both of these things for you.”

“Our plane will take you there, you shall have our personal staff to protect and assist you with your needs. I shall wait for you here until you decide to return. I sincerely apologize…for this. I should only like to ask one thing of you, Hank,” Boris said as he looked directly at Hank.

Hank’s expression was very serious now as he hadn’t expected any of this and wondered just how poorly Boris had suffered, how truly bad it was in Tibet, and what he could do to help; Hank thought to himself, ‘The heart of this man is so immense and yet so fragile.’

“Just one thing? What is that one thing, Boris?” Hank asked.

“Just…please return to me, Hank,” Boris said sincerely as he stared into Hank’s eyes.

Hank smiled and they looked at each other with thoughtful expressions.

“I will always return to you, Boris, don’t worry about that. Never worry about us, remember?” Hank said seriously.

Boris nodded with relief and then saw Hank’s face change to that expression he got when he had a clever thought or could repair a situation, “What are you thinking, Hank?”

“As much as I would like to go to the hospital, I really don’t want to go there without you. We are a packaged deal; we come as a set. And I don’t want you to worry if I do go there – which I know you will,” Hank said knowingly (Boris nodded his head at this); “I am wondering if there are ways that I can help from here, like you do. Just off the top of my head, I think that we could set up a weekly type of teleconference connection so that the doctors and staff and I can see each other, and we can discuss situations and share knowledge. You said the internet connection is a challenge, well, just maybe we can find that time frame when it’s not so much of a challenge, when the connection is smooth and strong. I could also help by teaching about specific topics that they may need help on. I am always updating my knowledge base and it would be fantastic to be able to share that with them,” Hank said with excitement in his voice.

Boris smiled, his excitement grew and he replied, “This is a marvelous idea, Hank; I believe that they will be very receptive to this offer.” Boris had learned that ‘modern medicine’ was not always so modern in Tibet and their need to learn was great; he then asked, “One question, though, since they do not speak English, and you do not speak Tibetan, how will you communicate?”

“You could be our translator,” Hank suggested.

“Huh. Ja, I suppose I could. I only know conversational Lhasa Tibetan; I hope that will be sufficient for all of your needs,” Boris said as he started to think how this could be and he began to feel good inside that there was more he could do to be helpful. He smiled as he looked at Hank. Now with Hank at his side, they could both be of greater value to those in need (a distinct desire within both men) and this idea could begin to fulfill just one of the goals that Boris had when he thought, early on in their relationship, of the philanthropic things they could do together.

“May I show you something, Hank?” Boris asked as he stood up.

“Sure,” Hank replied as he also stood up and then followed Boris over to the part of a large bookcase which held various beautiful exotic statues and intriguing ancient pottery and artifacts.

Boris’ open hand pointed to a golden foot-tall statue of a Buddha which sat in a top and center portion of the bookcase, which was what Boris had looked at moments before, and he said, “This is an image of Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha. This is a small version of a larger statue which resides in a revered niche at the entrance of the hospital. See how in one hand, he holds a bouquet of healing herbs and in the other hand, he holds scrolls of written medicine treaties. It is said that Bhaisajyaguru took twelve vows in a previous life and several of these indicated his desire to focus on healing physical ailments which afflict sentient beings. The Medicine Buddha is our inspiration at Bhaisajyaguru Hospital.”

“That’s really beautiful, Boris, I mean, not only the statue, but the feeling and the spirit behind what it represents. I am really happy that we are starting this now, and we’re doing it together,” Hank said with a wide smile on his face, “I’ll certainly do my best to help. And one day, Boris, I’m sure that you’ll be able to share with me how you came to be connected to Tibet, right?”

“Someday, Hank, someday soon…” Boris said quietly and with a slight smile on his face.


	16. Relevance, Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are all part of a family, whether we realize it or not; and when it is realized, it is one of the best things in the world.

Boris casually sat on a corner of Hank’s desk in the Infirmary, with one foot on the floor. He had to move aside a number papers to do this as Hank did not keep his desk as orderly as Boris kept his. He sipped on his second double espresso and looked around the large room with a relaxed, pleased expression and asked, “How is HankMed doing these days?”

Hank leaned back in his desk chair with his hands clasped behind his head, one leg crossed over the other at his knee, he replied, “Really well now that Evan hired two new doctors to keep up with business. With Joanne here, I can take care of some of HankMed’s patients while she minds the store; it’s a great set-up because everybody wins.” 

Hank leaned over and picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, “Although lately, since it’s been so cold, our patients have mostly stayed indoors and have kept themselves fairly safe from harm. We had only two slips and falls earlier in the week because of that ice storm we had, and only one of those was a broken ankle.”

“I see; er, I have not seen Nurse Joanne ‘round lately, is she all right?” Boris asked sincerely.

“Oh, yeah, she’s fine. She decided to take a winter holiday and go to the Bahamas for two weeks,” Hank replied.

“Ah, very good. She is pleasant to have around,” Boris said with his slight smile, “I find that I strangely miss the way she greets me with her energetic: “Hi ya, Boris!” (Boris did a poor job of imitating Joanne and Hank chuckled.)

Hank leaned back into his chair again, held onto his coffee cup and replied, “Yeah, I miss her, too, and for more reasons than how neat she keeps my desk, and the paperwork she and I generate, a lot more organized than I do. I really appreciate her medical talent and friendship. Our staff really likes her as well.”

“She told me once a short time ago, as we passed each other in the corridor, that if I ever needed any energy work, she would be able to help,” Boris said with a confused tilt to his head, “What is energy work, Hank? I did not know that she was an electrician as well as medical professional.”

Hank swallowed his sip of coffee hard and burst out laughing; he had to put his cup on the desk because he almost dropped it.

“Er, in any case, we have our Maintenance Team of Gregor, Illiya and Tomas at our disposal for any electrical work which we might be in need of…” Boris continued innocently, now completely confused by Hank’s hysterical laughing, “Did I make a joke and did not know that I made a joke, Hank?”

Trying to catch his breath, Hank replied, “Oh, Boris, you’re hilarious! Your dead pan delivery is spot on!”

“Er…” Boris said, his eyebrows knitted together and he looked around the room as if he could locate an answer to his question before his eyes settled back on Hank’s slightly red face. He sighed and took another sip of his coffee and appeared to settle in to wait for an answer from Hank.

Hank coughed and laughed again, took a deep breath, “Okay,” Another chuckle, “Okay, first of all, Joanne is not an electrician,” Another longer chuckle and a cough, “She’s referring to Reiki, Kripalu, crystals, chakra alignment and such.” 

Hank could tell that he had just lost Boris to more confusion and then cleared his throat before he continued, “She is referring to arts of healing which encompass a broad range of techniques from those based on ancient practices as compared to those derived from modern research. A variety of techniques are also influenced by a particular faith or understanding. Technically, it’s called Complementary or Alternative Medicine. Let’s see, have you heard of acupuncture, the use of herbal medicines, Qi Gong or Traditional Chinese Medicine?”

Boris nodded his head as he had heard of those things and now understood why Hank laughed so hard. Boris’ smile was somewhat of an embarrassed one. Boris then actually chuckled as he thought about the entire situation and how ridiculous he must have just appeared.

“Her reference to energy work, from what I have heard her talk about, is along the lines of Reiki work because that is part of her shaman talent,” Hank offered, “From what I have learned, Reiki is one of the more popular and widely-known forms of energy medicine. There has been research conducted on its effectiveness and it is found in hospitals and offered by practitioners around the world. It is based on the Chinese concept of Qi, or energy, but it differs from Qi Gong in that it isn’t as focused on specific acupuncture points or meridians. Reiki is a more spiritually focused practice in that it places a trust in the energy and the body to know how to heal.”

“Huh. Fascinating; I have learned something today, thank you for clarifying that for me, Hank,” Boris said with appreciation, “You can now imagine how confused I was when she made the offer. Do know that I was kind to her and I said thank you, although I did not know what I was thanking her for.”

Hank chuckled again and finished his coffee.

A moment passed.

“Hank,” Boris still thought about the situation, “Why would she make an offer like that to me? Now that I know about this a little better, if someone is offering me some type of healing, it would appear that I still need to be healed, ja?”

Hank looked at Boris and Hank’s expression changed from amused to serious. 

Boris saw this change, finished his coffee, stood up and put his cup on the cart that held their coffee service. He stood there looking at Hank with a look of cautious curiosity; his hands clasped in front him.

Hank stood up and brought his now empty cup over to the cart and set it down as well. He stood close to Boris, looked up at him and said sincerely, “Do you remember the night of the Thanksgiving party?”

Boris’ guard instantly went up and he searched Hank’s eyes; “Ja, the night I…had the attack.”

Hank saw the wall go up in Boris’ expression and looked at Boris with compassion and strength, and hoped to guide Boris through the conversation smoothly as he said, “Yes, that’s right. Joanne noticed that something wasn’t quite right with you as the evening wore on. Do you remember me telling you that Joanne had tried to get my attention and I didn’t follow through with it because I was trying to take care of our guests?”

“Ja, that was part of our admission of errors conversation,” Boris replied in a business-like tone of voice, his eyes seemed to turn a shade of steel grey.

Hank continued calmly, “She sensed your distress that night; she felt your energy change dramatically and not in a good way. It’s part of her shamanism to sense things like that with people. Joanne was very worried about you that night, and offered her energy healing to you whenever you would need it. A few days after the party, she told me that she was still concerned about you but had noticed something more positive about your energy since the party.”

“The night after the party, when you and I were on the couch in the Main Living Room…that too, was a painful night, but…perhaps it was a…cleansing, a release?” Boris said tentatively, “And that may be why she senses something different, er, positive now…in me?” Boris almost looked hopeful.

“That’s very possible. In any case, Boris, she is just being who she is: a healer; and healers care about people,” Hank said gently and with a small smile, “You’re people, too, Boris.”

While Boris looked at Hank intently, Boris stood tall and stiff, he asked quietly, “Does she know that I have been struggling with anxiety?”

“She guessed at that herself, she told me that; and she just wants to make sure you are always okay, like I do,” Hank said as he still smiled slightly.

“Does anyone else know about the anxiety?” Boris asked plainly, almost afraid to hear what Hank was going to say because he began to feel that his carefully guarded privacy had most likely been compromised. Boris crossed his arms in front of his chest as if to help hold in his strength for Hank’s response.

Hank raised his chin and his eyes gazed into Boris’ with the hope that Hank could control what would happen next; Hank knew that Boris didn’t want others to know about his private angst; then Hank said gently, “Divya and Jeremiah also saw you in distress that night. All three of them actually took steps that evening to draw the attention of the other guests away from you, so that I could have Udo walk you back to our Apartment. They told me, a few days later, that the look that you had on your face was the same one you had when you were…” Hank paused.

“Go on, I am fine at the moment, truly,” Boris said plainly.

“…at the hospital waiting for me to wake up,” Hank said gently, “They’re smart, they figured it out on their own.” 

“Ah, yes, it must have all been very obvious, they are trained medical professionals,” Boris paused a moment, took a deep breath, looked at a random point across the room and then back at Hank. He smiled slightly at Hank and the light from that smile slowly lit his eyes; Boris continued slowly, “I did not realize any of this; I have always tried to keep my personal life closed off from others and it is apparent that I have failed. In the past, I did not have as many people around me, now seemingly involved with me…and my life, as I do now – I am simply not accustomed to this. Perhaps this is a better way to live, I do not know; I shall just have to learn how to be accustomed to it…I have usually been alone.”

“Not any more, Boris; you are not alone, not with me around. But what none of them know is about the other, deeper trigger that you and I have found out about. You know what I’m talking about. That is only something that you and I know about, although I think Udo is aware of it, but he’s so discreet,” Hank couldn’t quite bring himself to say the word: family.

“Just say it Hank, it appears that my family and their complexities are the deeper prompt of my anxiety,” Boris said bravely but with a frustrated undertone.

Hank smiled widely as he was so proud of Boris at the moment, “You did NOT know what you signed up for when you got hooked up with me, did you, Husband?!” Hank held both of Boris’ upper arms with his hands.

“Eh, no, some of it I imagined, but you have brought so much more,” Boris said sincerely as he then cradled Hank’s bearded face with both of his hands, “You have brought so much more into my life…”

Hank then moved slightly and they embraced each other lovingly; they both closed their eyes…

 

~~~

 

The hot shower that Boris had running steamed up their entire bathroom. He stood naked underneath the water which cascaded down from the rain shower head and it drenched him completely. He and Hank had gone for a walk in the Formal Gardens right after lunch that day. It was a clear day, but it was bitterly cold outside and although Boris had dressed warmly, layered in thick weather-appropriate clothing, he said he felt ‘chilled to the bone’.

The shower was the quickest way that Boris could think of to warm up (without drinking alcohol) and he enjoyed it immensely. He bowed his head against the onslaught of water from the shower head and the water ran through his long hair, past his face and downward along his body and it warmed him pleasantly. He looked down at his hands, which he held out in front of him, moving his long fingers towards his palms and then outward as if trying to get the blood flow to his fingertips again. Boris blissfully described showers like these as ‘religious experiences’.

Hank had gone to the kitchen to ask for an early coffee service as he thought that the two of them could sit and enjoy the hot beverage together in the seating area of their Apartment and look out the window. There was a good-sized fire burning in the fireplace in their Apartment and it warmed the room perfectly. Hank had other ideas as well. He returned with the service, and pushed it on the cart into the room. 

Udo had tried to assist, as always, and Hank politely declined and thanked Udo for his offer.

Hank locked the door to their Apartment after he set up the coffee service at the seating area.

As he walked into the bathroom, Hank thought he had walked into a cloud. The eucalyptus-scented steam filled their bathroom and it was very pleasant. Hank took a deep breath and let the steam fill his lungs, it felt invigorating to him. Hank couldn’t see Boris in the shower as there was just too much steam, but that didn’t deter him from what he now wanted to do.

Hank undressed in his usual quick manner and made his way through the steam to the shower. Hank knocked on the glass shower door.

Boris spoke loudly from inside the shower so that Hank could hear him above the sound of the water, “How polite and civilized of you, H-hank…may I be of service?”

“Uh, as a matter of fact, yes you can,” Hank replied loudly, “May I join you?”

Boris opened the shower door and more steam billowed outward towards Hank; water from the shower also sprayed onto the marble floor. Boris stood there surrounded by steam and still being drenched from head to toe as he looked at Hank and reached out with his hand to grasp Hank’s upper arm. Boris then guided Hank into the shower, further into the steam and firmly against himself; Hank had just enough time to close the shower door behind him.

Boris enveloped Hank with his arms, his body tense but in the best way possible, and he stood under the main stream of the water as Boris didn’t know if Hank would find the water too hot for his liking. Hank was immediately drenched anyway from the spray off of Boris’ body; Boris then held Hank at the back of his head and the small of his back and kissed him passionately; Hank returned the kiss with equal passion holding onto Boris’ hair. Water ran down Boris’ face as he bent his head and spoke in Hank’s ear, his lips kissing Hank’s neck, “Is the water too warm for you, my beloved One?” 

Hank held onto Boris fiercely, his body tense as well as his hands traveled down Boris’ lean back and hips, and replied, “Tree, this is perfect and you have something to do…”

Boris moved Hank against the marble shower wall…

 

Hank looked into his cup of coffee and said fondly, “Remember when we got rained on...in South Africa…and then afterwards?”

Boris looked at Hank over his coffee cup and replied, “That was very nice then; this was much more…fun, ja?”

 

~~~

 

“Udo,” Hank asked, “How many nationalities do we have represented by the Shadow Pond staff?”

“That is a good question, Sir. I know there are many, but I don’t know specifics; would you like me to poll the staff for you?” Udo asked.

Hank stood in the doorway of Udo’s office and leaned against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. Udo sat at his desk and had just finished some paperwork when Hank arrived, knocked on his door that late morning and asked politely for a few moments of Udo’s time.

“Yeah, I would, thank you,” Hank thought for a moment and continued, “I’m not trying to dig into anyone’s privacy, but here’s my idea, and please let them know this when you ask them…I’d like to have a winter holiday party that the whole staff can get involved in, something in addition to Christmas. I thought it would be really awesome for aspects of everyone’s nationality to be incorporated somehow into the party. I think it would be very festive and somewhat educational that way; what do you think?”

“We’ve never done anything like that before, Dr. Hank, what a unique idea. I believe the staff would enjoy a gathering like that,” Udo said quite enthusiastic now.

“I’m sure that some of the staff goes home for the holidays, so we can try and pick a day when most of the staff is still here, right?” Hank asked.

Udo smiled as he looked up at Hank and said, “Sir, most of us…” He paused a moment to think and then nodded his head, “Consider Shadow Pond as home and stay here year round; we also consider the staff to be family with both of you, now, as our patriarchs. It will be easy to find a day for this event when everyone, all 36 of us, will be able to attend.”

“Great, Udo! That’s really interesting; I didn’t know that…this is amazing. I thought that this place became a ghost town between Christmas and New Year’s with everyone leaving to go somewhere else. When I lived in the Guest House for the past few winters, I didn’t see many staff around, but then again, I wasn’t inside the Main House. Sometimes, it was so, um, quiet and dark around, I didn’t see anyone at all; I just thought that all of you, even Boris, went somewhere else,” Hank said.

“A ghost town, Sir? No, there’s always life here, however subdued that life may be in the winter season. I know that this is your first winter here with us,” Udo smiled respectfully and cheerfully at Hank, “But no, Dr. Hank, we stay here all year around. There have been a few times when the Master has ventured out, and we have taken winter trips to the Caribbean on the yacht, but that is not common. He does not favor winter travel and rightfully so; winter travel can be…rough…at times. Richard, the Master Gardener and his two grounds people Julia and Masaharu, do take some time in January to travel to places where they gather ideas and increase their learning, but that trip is only two weeks in length. They don’t have much to do outside in the winter here, but their work in the Greenhouse preparing for springtime and beyond keeps them busy.”

“You are teaching me so much today, thank you. This is just so cool… Do you think we’d be able to do some decorating, too? Not everywhere, but just maybe in the Foyer, both Dining Rooms, and the Main Living Room? Oh, yeah, and a big wreath on the front door! I love how festive holiday décor can be, something about it makes me happy and it’s such a change from the rest of the year, you know what I mean? I’ve got plans to also make a holiday music compilation for us to play! I love holiday songs!” Hank said cheerfully.

“You are most welcome, Dr. Hank. Yes, I believe that decorating would also be appreciated by the staff; and I even venture to think that He would enjoy it as well. We have decorated in the past, but only slightly…” Udo paused.

“What, Udo?” Hank asked curiously.

“If I may say so, Sir, you bring such joy into this house…the entire staff greatly appreciates it, as they have told me so,” Udo replied honestly. Udo also wanted to tell Dr. Hank that everyone noticed how much joy Hank brought into Boris’ life (if only discreetly noticed) and they were happy, and comforted by that as well, but Udo didn’t want to overstep his bounds.

Hank laughed, took his hands out of his pockets and spread them wide, “I just try to spread cheer wherever I am…” He paused for a moment, as he thought about Boris, and then admitted, “You know, Udo, I don’t think that I ever heard Boris laugh before, uh, we became a couple. He was always so serious and reserved during the times I met and talked with him; and of course, he always just scared the crap out of Evan…uh, he still does but only a little bit now. Anyway, I just try to bring him cheer like I try to do with everyone else.”

That was all that Udo needed to hear and he said openly, “Dr. Hank, please know that you have brought such joy into the Master’s life; he rarely, if ever, laughed. I should like to share with you something…the first few times that He laughed out loud, it was when you first came here and it was because of something you said or did; and when some of the staff heard the Master’s laugh, they were shocked one moment and then grateful for you the next moment for causing it to happen. They told me this also. Some of them had never heard the Master laugh before, Dr. Hank; what you have brought into this house is a minor miracle.”

“You’re kidding, Udo, right?” Hank said with amazement.

“No, Dr. Hank, Sir, I am not kidding,” Udo stated.

 

Later that day, Boris and Hank went for a walk outside and this time they made their way down the long tree-lined drive to the Entrance Gate. Yussef and Efraim shadowed them. It had snowed again overnight and there was a least of foot of fresh snow on the ground. The drive had been plowed and there were banks of snow along the pavement. The day was clear, cold, and bright and the sound of their boots crunching on the snow seemed to be the only sound. Gregor and Iliya were working on both of the gate’s mechanisms which had become covered with snow, and one side was also coated in ice and had ceased to function. 

All of the men greeted each other and Gregor explained to Boris what they were doing in his thick Bulgarian accent, “We break the ice and the machine moves, very simple, no problem.”

Hank had walked over to Yussef and Efraim and spoke with them a few moments. Hank looked back with a sly expression to where Boris stood next to Gregor as Iliya looked on.

Boris had persuaded Hank to wear gloves on their walks outside now because he claimed that he became cold just looking at Hank’s bare hands. That afternoon, Hank found a reason why wearing gloves would be not only helpful, but fun.

Yussef said, somewhat in shock, “Are you serious, Dr. Hank?”

“Yeah, I am,” Hank said smugly.

Efraim tried hard not to look mortified at what Dr. Hank just suggested.

Boris asked Gregor, their heads bent down as they looked at the mechanism together (Iliya had then crouched down to look into the tool chest), “…Why does this one side become coated with ice and the other side does not?”

Gregor never got a chance to answer Boris’ question, because suddenly Boris, Gregor, and Iliya were pelted with snow balls. Each was hit on either their back or their upper arm. They turned towards the direction of where the snow balls came from and saw Hank with Yussef and Efraim each with another snow ball in their other hands.

“Yes! Direct hits!” Hank cried, “Hahaha!” He raised his hands in the air in triumph and jumped up and down.

Boris looked at Gregor and Iliya, who nodded back at him; Boris smiled wickedly and shouted, “Remember your training! Hail St. George!”

Gregor and Iliya shouted, “Hail St. George!”

The three of them reached down and made snow balls of their own.

The Battle of the Shadow Pond Entrance Gate (as it would later be dubbed) began…

 

Khalil had called Udo on the phone and asked him to quickly come to the Control Room. They both stood there, with Misha seated, in front of the largest of the screens at the video control desk watching the snow ball fight over the surveillance cameras.

“I cannot believe this,” Khalil said, “Since when does the Master PLAY in the snow?” Khalil pointed to the video screen.

Misha smiled from ear-to-ear and nodded.

Udo shook his head, put two fingers to his temple, took a deep breath and replied, “Dr. Hank is spreading cheer again.”

Misha asked innocently, “They won’t get hurt, will they?”

“No, Misha, they will only get wet and cold, and that will be easy to take care of,” Udo replied with a reassuring tone to his voice.

“I didn’t know, I’ve never been in a snow ball fight,” Misha admitted.

Udo and Khalil turned to look at Misha in disbelief.

Misha looked at them, shrugged his shoulders and said, “I grew up in a very hot desert that never saw snow.” 

 

At first, Hank’s team appeared to be on the winning side because of the element of surprise. However, Boris’ team quickly gained the upper advantage. Yussef and Efraim were trained marksmen and Hank was really good at baseball and basketball – all of which helped. What they didn’t remember was that Boris was a champion marksman and Gregor and Iliya were snipers when they served in the Bulgarian Army.

 

Udo said, “If I gambled, my money would be on the Master’s Team.”

“Agreed,” Khalil said.

“Then, I’m going to root for the underdog; go Dr. Hank’s team!” Misha said enthusiastically.

The battle waged on and the six men ran around the trees and the snow banks and used them as cover. Boris appeared to be directing Gregor and Iliya as if they followed a strategic plan. Many hits were scored by both sides. As Khalil, Udo, and Misha looked at the screen there was a sudden and massive volley of snow balls which appeared to come from all directions, so much so that the three men who watched the screen cringed at the same time as they saw all six men in the battle be pelted with snow.

Misha asked, “How can you tell who won? Is it over?”

Khalil said as he crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, and shook his head, “Whoever is left standing is generally the winner unless someone gives up completely.”

 

Boris stood tall like a victorious war general with Gregor on his left and Iliya on his right, their gloved hands flexing as if just ready to build more snow ammunition. Boris shouted, “St. George and victory!”

Gregor and Iliya together shouted their reply with fists in the air, “Hail St. George!”

Hank had fallen backwards and got buried in a snow bank (you could only see his legs and boots), Yussef was caught and tangled up in a low tree branch, and Efraim had slipped and was sitting on the driveway with his legs spread widely out in front of him.

Everyone was covered in snow and all six of them burst into laughter. Boris, Gregor, Iliya went over to help Hank, Yussef, and Efraim out of the awkward positions they were in and soon everyone brushed snow off of each other and congratulated one another.

 

Misha said, “Well, you both would have taken all of my money, I would have lost that bet, but the fight was fun to watch!”

Khaili said as he shook his head, “I still cannot believe the Master played in the snow.”

Udo said as he turned to leave the room, “I need to get out the vodka for them to warm up with and for the toast…”

Misha asked innocently as he looked at Udo, “How do you know that they will want the vodka? And make a toast?”

Udo stopped at the doorway and smiled fondly at Misha, “Young man, you still have much to learn.”

Khalil said as he waved at Udo, “Go on, Udo, get the vodka ready; I will explain it to him.”

 

Boris had talked all of them into coming back to the house to have a drink to warm up and a victory toast. They walked slowly up the snow-covered drive and open parking area in front of the house; there was much conversation, the younger men gestured, and there was laughter as they all relived the battle.

As they walked into the house (and still laughed), stamping snow from their boots on the entrance rug, they removed their coats, scarves and gloves (which the Housemen Ty and Dumont took from them). Udo entered the Foyer at that moment and he carried a brightly colored enamel tray which held six equally colorful, tiny, hand-painted glasses each filled with a shot of Boris’ favorite vodka.

“Udo!” Boris said happily, “You have read my mind! Gentlemen, please…” As they met Udo in the middle of Foyer, each one of them (Boris was the first) took a glass.

Boris held up his glass and the men mimicked his mannerism as he said proudly, “It has been said that to the victor go the spoils, but in this case, gentlemen, St. George was so pleased with our efforts today, that he has decided to share the spoils with all of us.”

“Here, here!” they all said very loudly and it echoed powerfully throughout the Foyer.

All six men downed the vodka in one swallow. Yussef and Hank coughed a little bit. Iliya and Efraim nodded happily. Gregor looked at Boris with awe, as he held up the glass like a candle, and exclaimed (his accent became thicker when he was excited), “Sir! Thank you very much! This is da good stuff! St. George would be most happy!” 

They all laughed again and Gregor said, as he slapped Iliya’s upper arm, “Come, Iliya. Excuse us, Sir and Dr. Hank, no more play, we must go to fix gate now.” 

Each man placed their glass back on the tray that Udo still held. They all nodded to each other as Gregor and Iliya put their coats, hats, and gloves back on and left; Yussef and Efraim left the Foyer to go to Khalil’s office and Efraim said quietly to Yussef, “This is going to be interesting to explain to Khalil…” Yussef just rolled his eyes.

Udo looked at Boris and Hank with a smile and asked, “Is there anything that you would require at this moment, Sirs?

“Maybe some more of that vodka and a snack, I’m hungry,” said Hank enthusiastically.

Boris smiled, “Ja, that sounds good, perhaps a substantial snack this afternoon, Udo, thank you. Ah, let us go and sit in the Main Living Room, is the fire still burning?”

“Yes, it is. Sirs, please get comfortable there and your food and drink will be brought to you momentarily,” Udo said with a smile, turned and left the Foyer.

Boris and Hank looked at each other, smiled widely and began to walk to the Main Living Room.

“You were quite evil to start that snow battle,” Boris stated.

“You looked like a crazy military general out there,” Hank replied as he waved his hand above his head indicating that Boris’ hair had become wild; which it had.

“I do know something of military strategy, you know, Hank. How did you think you could win against us?” Boris asked, absently running both of his hands through his hair to tame it.

“I thought the teams were evenly matched,” Hank said.

“You had forgotten that Gregor and Iliya were snipers in the Bulgarian Army, ja?” Boris offered.

“Oh, yeah, I did forget about that,” Hank said sounding somewhat defeated, “But that was so much fun!” He added happily as he sat down heavily into one of the leather chairs that were in front of the fireplace.

Boris went to place two more logs on the fire and tend to it further to make the fire more robust, chuckling as he did so.

“So, what’s this about St. George? The three of you even had a battle cry, what’s with that?” Hank asked.

“St. George is the patron saint of the Bulgarian Army and by my invoking St. George, I was certain to work Gregor and Iliya into military mentality and action, thus assuring our victory; it was as simple as that,” Boris stated plainly as he sat down with his usual regal mannerism in the other chair that was in front of the fireplace and crossed his legs.

They were quiet for a few moments as they stared into the fire.

“Thank you for starting that bit of mischief, Hank, it was surely great fun,” Boris said as he looked at Hank with a smile.

“You’re welcome, it was my pleasure. Although, I thought Efraim was going to run away screaming when I suggested it,” Hank said with a laugh and then turned serious, “Hey, you didn’t get too cold out there, did you? I know you wore you thickest coat and scarf today, but I still worry.”

“Not at all, Hank, the activity kept me warm enough. Sitting here by the fire is glorious, however,” Boris said as he flexed his hands, rubbed them together quickly and leaned towards the fire as he held his palms towards the heat. Boris’ normal winter, indoor outfit was something always along the lines of a thick undershirt and collared shirt, a sweater, a wool sport coat, corduroy trousers, thick socks and boots. Because he was so lean, all of that clothing made it appear that he was of a normal weight for a man of his height, but Hank knew otherwise and was on the constant watch that Boris would not become too chilled. 

Hank on the other hand, being the more warm-blooded of the two men, only wore a collared shirt and a sweater with jeans, cotton socks, and boots; he was always so warm, he just never seemed to feel the cold.

Server Angela then arrived pushing the service cart close to where they sat, “Good afternoon, Sirs, please enjoy,” she said sweetly.

“Thanks, Angela!” Hank said and got up to look at what was on the cart, “Oh, this looks great!” He smiled at her; she returned the smile, bowed to each of them and then left.

“Stay there by the fire and get warm, Boris, I’ll fix you a plate,” Hank said as he surveyed the offerings.

After piling a good portion of food on Boris’ plate, as well as his own, Hank set the plates on side tables that were next to each of their chairs. Hank was now interested in the vodka and asked, “This is very nice vodka, Boris. Gregor called it the ‘good stuff’,” He picked up the bottle and looked at it, “It’s called Russian Standard Imperia and it’s from St. Petersburg,” He poured two glasses, capped the bottle, placed it back in the ice bucket and handed Boris his glass. Boris was highly amused by Hank’s interest in his favorite vodka.

“Let us eat something first before we drink, ja?” Boris suggested as he looked at the balancing act of food that Hank had placed on the bread plate, “You pile this food so high, Hank, where do I start?” Boris was actually quite hungry at the moment but what he saw on the plate was too much. Boris also wanted to eat instead of drink (he believed at the moment that the drink would be best enjoyed after he had some eaten some food as he knew too much of the vodka on his empty stomach would intoxicate him quickly).

“At the top, of course,” Hank said as he happily munched on the food from his plate. Hank always gave Boris more food than he knew he would eat, but Hank kept telling himself that one day Boris would actually eat it all.

Boris tilted his head, looked at the plate again, and then stood up to get another plate from the cart. He deftly dismantled Hank’s creation with two forks, he separated the pile into two which apparently pleased him; he sat down again and began to eat from one of the plates with one of forks.

Hank chuckled as he watched Boris, “You’re amazing.”

Between his usual small bites of food, Boris teased, “I have manners.”

 

~~~

 

A few days later, Boris and Hank enjoyed lunch in the Parlor Dining Room. It was a sunny afternoon and the sunlight came into the room through the tall windows and that made the room feel warmer than it really was, especially compared to the bitter temperature which was outside.

“You know, Hank, as pleasant as it is in this room right now, I do miss having our meals outside on the lawn. I suppose that I shall have to put that thought away until spring arrives, ja?” Boris said with a reminiscent tone to his voice.

“Yeah, I was thinking that I miss our walks on the beach, too,” Hank replied, “That’s what winter in the Hamptons means. This soup is terrific! Would you please pass me another piece of bread?”

“Here you are. Yes, this is delicious and warming. Is this something that you suggested to Chef Henri? What is it called again?” Boris asked as he handed the bread basket over to Hank.

“Thanks, yeah, it’s call Beef and Barley Soup,” And then Hank laughed, “You should have seen Chef’s face when I told him about the canned condensed version that I was used to eat to as a kid. He made this way better; I see that he put in nice chunks of vegetables in it just as you like.”

Boris nodded his agreement as he never spoke with food in his mouth.

“I’d like to talk about the Winter Holiday Party, is that okay with you?” Hank asked as he buttered a slice of bread.

Boris took a sip of tea and replied, “Yes, of course, I know so little of what you and Udo are planning. He said you wanted to incorporate different aspects of the nationalities?”

“Yeah, we polled the staff and discovered that we have 16 different nationalities represented and I thought it would be fun to have a Winter Party, on the solstice day, to celebrate some of the customs of those nationalities. Udo and I also figured out that during just the month of December, there are about 11 different holidays celebrated by those nationalities. I think that’s kinda cool,” Hank said cheerfully.

“Indeed, I knew that Shadow Pond was multi-cultural, I just had not taken actual stock. How do you intend to showcase the customs?” Boris asked with full curiosity and amusement as he watched Hank eat heartily and enthusiastically describe his event.

“Udo asked the staff what they thought would be appropriate and most of them said that they would like to share specific holiday food and beverages from their countries. He said that some of the dishes that were suggested had stories behind them that the staff would like to share. So we have food, we have drinks, we have storytelling and who knows what else someone may come up with!” Hank said.

“How does Chef Henri feel about all of this? Would he and his team be responsible to do all of the cooking or does he plan to share his kitchen?” Boris asked with concern.

“When we spoke to Chef, he practically jumped out of his chair with excitement, you know how he gets. It was so funny. In the end, he said that he and his team would work with the individual staff member to get the proper recipe and supplies and that his team would do the actual cooking but be guided by the staff member so that the authenticity is there,” Hank replied.

“Truly a collaboration and also Chef keeping control of his kitchen; what remarkable people we have, ja?” Boris said before taking a spoonful of soup.

“Yeah, really. I have started to find music for each holiday custom and will put together one of my compilations. Everyone is just jumping in on this and participating in the organization and the set up. Udo and I thought that we’d have to do more work, but since everyone is involved now, he and I just have to make sure that everyone has what they need. Even Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine are coming down from New York the day before the party and staying here until just after Christmas. They are both Irish and are participating as well and bringing whiskey and stuff,” Hank said.

“Will Nurse Joanne be back from her vacation to attend?” Boris asked as he thought about who else could participate in the festivities.

“Yes, she’ll be back just in time. When we asked her what her nationality was, she said that,” Hank laughed, “She is a ‘Heinz 57,’” Hank laughed again.

Boris stopped in mid-chew and tilted his head in that way that he did when he was confused. He finished chewing, swallowed, dabbed his lips with his napkin and asked, “A what?”

Hank chuckled, “When someone calls them self that, it usually means they are a mix of a lot of different nationalities.”

Boris needed more information, “Where did that term come from? Is she an end result of 57 nationalities? Heinz is generally an unusual diminutive form of another German name…”

“Hang on, Boris, let me make this easier,” Hank interrupted and chuckled, “There is a American brand name of food called Heinz 57 and they are famous for their ketchup and pickles and stuff. I guess they started out with 57 varieties of pickles and over time, their name became synonymous with anything that is made from a large number of parts or origins. So, if someone has a lot of nationalities in their family history, or maybe has a dog that is a mixed breed, then it is referred to as a Heinz 57.”

“Huh. Fascinating. Thank you, Hank, for educating me,” Boris said with sincerity, “Perhaps we should also invite Evan, Divya and Jeremiah,” Boris offered.

“That’s a great idea, Boris. I know that Evan would really get a kick out of this. Do you want to take a bet that Divya and Jeremiah show up together again?” Hank said with a sly expression on his face.

“Oh, it would not be fair for me to enter into that bet with you, Hank,” Boris said with the ‘don’t-tell-Hank-everything’ expression (Hank’s words) on his face and a devious smile on his lips.

“What have you been up to?! You know something that I don’t, right? Come on, out with it, Husband, right now!” Hank said laughingly but with a stern undertone.

“What would happen to me if I do not divulge my information?” Boris said calmly as he took delight in the tease.

“Uh, I’ll hide your cigars where you’ll never ever find them,” Hank teased back, “Ever again.”

“Hmmm, ja, that would be tragic…” Boris said as he continued to slowly sip his tea, “You would need to remember that I have two humidors that you would need to hide…”

“Boris! Oh gees, you are so hard to crack when you get like this! Tell me!” Hank said in play exasperation, with an emphasis on the exasperation.

“And Khalil and Patrice would probably share their cigars with me until I found my own cigars again, if I kindly asked them; I would repay them, of course. Although I would favor Patrice’s brand more than Khalil’s, her preferred cigar is more similar to my own Montecristo…” Boris said and continued to enjoy this verbal bout with Hank immensely.

“Argh! What makes you so good at this?! Did you learn torment techniques or go to school to learn how to make people agonize?” Hank asked laughingly.

“No, I am German and Russian, and well, you know my family, what more education would I need?” Boris said plainly.

Hank laughed loudly and Boris laughed heartily in response. Several staff members, as well as Udo, heard their laughter and they all smiled in unison.

Hank finally caught his breath and took a drink of his tea and looked at Boris; Hank’s eyes were bright now from laughter and his best smile started to form on his lips. Hank hoped he could now charm Boris into telling him the secret.

“I was going to tell you at some point, Hank, but I just did not get around to it,” Boris admitted, “One afternoon, some days ago, I saw that Divya’s automobile was parked in the drive and so I assumed she was attending a HankMed meeting in the Guest House with Evan. You were in the Infirmary working and so I walked over there to speak with her. I had wanted to thank her personally for her concern during the Thanksgiving evening, eh, situation. Somehow, I was not surprised to find that Jeremiah was also there although his vehicle was not. I then felt myself fortunate that I would be able to personally thank Jeremiah as well for his consideration.”

Hank gave Boris his complete attention and said nothing so as not to disturb Boris’ explanation no matter how lengthy it had become. 

Boris continued, “During the course of our private conversation, I had taken them aside, and after they graciously accepted my thanks, they looked at one another and began to say something, but then Evan rudely and loudly interjected himself into our conversation and announced that they were a ‘thing’. Of course, I had to look that term up later for a definitive explanation, you know how poorly I do with American slang words, but at that moment, Jeremiah took Divya’s hand, and although I may be of old-world European augustness, I ascertained that they had become a couple. When I congratulated them, they graciously accepted and did not correct me to the contrary.”

Hank’s mouth had fallen open slightly and Boris reached over and used his hand under Hank’s bearded chin to gently move his jaw upward. Boris chuckled at Hank’s expression.

Boris finished his tea and watched Hank. Boris made a hand motion and Server Marie came over to the table.

Hank looked at Boris and said, “So, everyone knew about this except me…”

Marie asked quietly as she bent at the waist slightly to address Boris, “Yes, Sir?”

“Bring us the Imperia and two glasses; with haste now,” Boris replied.

“Right away, Sir,” She stated, turned and left quickly.

“I am sorry to say this, Hank, but, eh, yes,” Boris said gently and placed his right hand gently on Hank’s left hand which was somewhat clutching the corner of the dining table.

“Even my brother knew and he didn’t tell me,” Hank said in a deflated tone of voice.

“Evan told me as I was leaving the Guest House that afternoon that he thought ‘we’ knew about the two of them,” Boris stated.

Marie arrived with the ice bucket, a bottle of the Imperia nestled to the neck in ice, and two brilliant red crystal glasses and said, “Shall I pour for you, Sir?”

“No, that will be all, Marie, thank you for your promptness,” Boris said with a slight smile as he looked up at her. 

She bowed to both of them and left their immediate area and went to her station which was out of earshot, but within visual range of the two men.

Boris took his hand off of Hank’s hand and proceeded to pour them each a glass of the vodka. He placed a glass near Hank on the table at his left side, and set a glass for himself on the table at his right side and returned the now capped bottle back into the ice.

Hank started to chuckle and then he smiled. He looked at the glass and picked it up; Boris mirrored his movements, then Hank said, “To Divya and Jeremiah.”

“To their continued health and happiness - together,” Boris offered.

Both men drank the vodka in one swallow, savored the velvety smoothness, and looked at each other smiling.

“Yes, we should invite them and they had better come to my party!” Hank said laughingly while he motioned to Boris to fill his glass again.

 

~~~

 

Hank decided that the Winter Solstice Party should be held in the afternoon and because there was a lot of food involved, it would replace everyone’s lunch, and even dinner. It was clear and cold outside and Udo suggested that the Main Living Room, with its enormous fireplace and tall windows, would be the best setting for this very festive gathering. Sunlight flooded into the large elegant room in the afternoons and that would help to create a perfect atmosphere for a friendly, casual event.

 

Hank worked diligently on his multi-cultural music compilation CD, a few days before the event, and found it a challenge to properly mix the different styles of music so that it wouldn’t sound choppy or confusing. At one point, he was very frustrated and had started to pace back and forth in front of his computer. Hank was in the Library as he thought it would be most private space there for him to work on this project. Part of Hank’s problem was that he didn’t quite know what all of the songs were about: too many languages, too many different cultures, too many musical styles. He had tried to look up different words on his own to glean more meanings to help him better understand what was being sung. Hank’s usual habit, when making the compilations, is that he would make a mix based on tempo and he was starting to think that he would have to arrange groupings by cultures of songs to create a better flow.

Boris walked to the Library and saw Hank as he paced and gripped his hair in frustration and said, “Oh, please do not harm that beautiful head of hair of yours, my beloved One; if you will allow me to run my hands through your hair, I can assure you that something extremely pleasurable will then occur.”

Hank stopped and turned to look at Boris as he leaned against the doorway of the Library, arms crossed at his chest and a pleasant smile on his face.

“Oh, hi, Boris, uh yeah,” Hank said with distraction and removed his hands from his head.

Boris walked over to Hank and looked at him with fondness, “Is there anything which I may assist you with, my love?”

Hank sighed and looked up at Boris, “I’m sorry, I’m just a little frustrated right now and I can’t get the right flow for this music. I don’t know what’s being sung and…”

Boris placed his hand on Hank’s upper arm and squeezed it gently, “I only know a few languages, but I could try to translate some of it for you. With what I am unable to convert, perhaps you can simply ask a staff member who would know.”

“That’s really nice of you, if you’re not too busy, I would love your help on this. I just want it to be right! I didn’t want to ask the staff because I wanted it to be a surprise for them,” Hank admitted.

“I am certain that the staff will be surprised, and pleased, no matter how they will learn of your efforts. Come, play for me what you have…” Boris said kindly and they turned and walked over to Hank’s computer…

 

A great deal of happy activity occurred at Shadow Pond in preparation for the Party. Various ingredients for the different food dishes and beverages were brought in and prepared – the kitchen staff was incredibly busy because Chef and his team wanted everything to be perfect and because they involved the staff, everyone seemed to spend more time in the kitchen than at their usual stations. The preparations were a nice change of pace for everyone at Shadow Pond.

Boris helped translate almost half of the songs for Hank’s music compilation and Hank did have to bring in some of the staff for further help; which although Hank was not happy to do this, the staff thought it was wonderful, told Hank so and helped him to feel better about it. Hank’s idea to group the songs by culture proved helpful and created a CD that he grew to be happy with. 

 

~~~

 

In the middle of the night, before the party, Hank got up and out of bed carefully so as not to wake Boris. Hank quietly put on his robe and slippers and went to the Library to listen to the CD ‘just one more time’. 

Boris awoke a while later and found that Hank was not beside him. He got up, donned slippers and his dressing gown, and went to the Library, as he instinctively knew Hank would be there. As Boris quietly entered the Library, he saw two lamps lit and Hank sound asleep on the couch with his laptop on his chest, opened and the CD playing softly. 

Boris shook his head and smiled at his husband and carefully moved Hank’s hands off of the laptop, and then gently lifted the laptop away from Hank and placed it on the side table. Boris closed the lid of the laptop with the hope it wouldn’t make any other sounds to wake Hank; Boris located the cord there and plugged it in. Hank sighed deeply and Boris froze. After a moment, when it seemed that Hank was still asleep, Boris took the chenille blanket which was always draped over the arm of that couch and carefully laid it over Hank up to his chin. Boris made certain that Hank’s feet were covered as Hank’s slippers had fallen off of his feet. Boris then turned off the larger and brighter of the two lamps and walked quietly out of the Library, closed the door and went back to their Apartment.

Boris hummed softly to himself part of a tune he knew by Mozart as he climbed back into and settled himself in bed. 

Hank woke two hours later and was surprised at being covered by the blanket. ‘When did I do that?’ he thought to himself. Suddenly, he sat up quickly because he remembered that he wasn’t even in bed but on the couch. 

“Oh, crap, I hope Boris isn’t upset with me,” Hank said out loud as he got up from the couch and looked around for his slippers, which had been neatly placed under the coffee table. Hank thought, ‘Did I do that, too?’ He saw his laptop on the side table and plugged in and tried to remember when he did that as well. Hank stood up and folded the blanket, laid it on the arm of the couch and walked to the lamp to turn it off as he thought about his CD. He smiled to himself and said out loud, “It’s going to be a great party,” as he left the Library and returned to their Apartment.

As Hank climbed carefully back into bed, he nestled himself next to Boris and felt happy because he had not awakened Boris.

Boris did wake however, and knew that Hank could not see his face at the moment; Boris smiled to himself, but said nothing, and did not move, so that Hank would think he was still asleep. Boris relished the moment as he felt Hank’s body relax into sleep and his breathing became slow and steady. Boris, too, fell asleep moments afterward.

 

The Main Living Room of Shadow Pond was most likely the most festive and happy place in all of the Hamptons on the afternoon of the Winter Solstice Party. Tables of foods and beverages were set about the room and each had a card which described where it originated from, who on the staff had had suggested it, and what the dish or beverage was. Hank’s music CD played continually over the course of the afternoon and it delighted the staff as they would suddenly hear a song that related to their culture. 

Two of the Housekeepers, Janet and Linda, and who were very artistic in nature, created a type of artwork which not only showed holidays that were celebrated around the world, but also noted the various nationalities represented by the Shadow Pond staff. 

This artwork was displayed on two shiny brass easels set near the fireplace and throughout the afternoon, each staff member took a few moments to read that celebrations ranging from Navarre in Spain, St. Nicholas’ Day in parts of Eastern Europe and beyond, Bodhi or Buddha’s Enlightenment Day, to Arabic Language Day, Pagan Yule, the Japanese Emperor’s Birthday, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Boxing Day/St. Stephen’s Day were all celebrated during the month of December. 

Many of the staff was surprised to learn that many parts of the world were represented and it became a game to guess who were the representatives or ‘ambassadors’ (Hank’s word) of what country. A field of sixteen countries and a total of 36 Shadow Pond staff made guessing quite fun as to who was: German, Russian, American, Arabic, French, Israeli, Italian, Irish, Spanish, Bulgarian, Native American, Jamaican, Polish, Japanese, Vietnamese, and British; sometimes it was easy and sometimes it was a pleasant and delightful challenge.

 

That activity led to some storytelling by some of the staff and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. During one of the few quiet moments, Udo, who stood next to Hank at that moment, said, “Dr. Hank, excuse me, Sir, but you are spreading cheer again.”

“Yeah,” Hank said with a wide smile on his face, “I just can’t help myself.”

 

Boris stood in front of the artwork with his arms crossed at his chest as one hand smoothed his silver circle beard, thoughtful.

Khalil stood next to Boris as he also viewed the artwork, and said, “This is almost the entire world represented here, Sir; all of us cooperate and care for each other, I wonder why the outside world can’t do the same?”

“That is a splendid question, Khalil; my first thought is that perhaps the outside world has forgotten that they are all part of one family and we here at Shadow Pond have remembered it,” Boris said in a contemplative tone of voice.

Boris and Khalil looked at each other and because they both had beverages in their hands, they touched glasses in a type of toast.

 

Evan said to Hank, “This is such a cool party, Bro! This was your idea?”

“Yeah, it was and when the whole staff learned about it, they all dove in to help. Udo and I just organized,” Hank said as he took a drink of Jamaican Red Stripe beer.

“You live at the United Nations, did you know that? My brother, head high mucky muck of the world!” Evan exclaimed.

“Evan, cut it out,” Hank said playfully and then changed the subject, “Hey! I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”

“What did I do now?” Evan said after he took a drink of his Japanese Sapporo beer.

“It’s what you DIDN’T do, Evan,” Hank said as he pulled Evan towards a quieter corner, “YOU didn’t tell me about Divya and Jeremiah, you putz! Come to think of it, I should just change your name to putz…yeah, Putz Lawson.”

“I thought you knew about that, Dude! You and Boris have spy cameras everywhere here, I thought you knew already,” Evan said in defense.

“EVAN, they are not spy cameras, they are surveillance cameras and they are for our security, not for being nosey,” Hank said with a little of annoyance in his voice.

“Yeah, sure, okay, whatever,” Evan said as he waved a hand in the air, “Boris had such a funny look on his face when he found out. Oh, wait a minute, so we all knew and you didn’t, and that’s why you are calling ME a putz. I thought that your husband would tell you everything.”

“Oh, he eventually did,” Hank said with a laugh, “You used to tell me everything, even when I don’t want to know, and that is still your job, you know. How long have they been seeing each other?”

“I’m not sure but probably, officially, just after you and Boris became a thing,” Evan said as he thought about it.

Hank started to laugh when Evan said the word ‘thing’ because he remembered the conversation that he had with Boris over lunch a few days back and how the discussion turned to and about the new couple. Boris described later how he had secretly researched the term ‘thing’ because he didn’t want to tell Hank about the new couple just yet and Evan had said that Divya and Jeremiah had a ‘thing’; Hank thought about how adorable Boris became whenever he was confused about American slang terms. Boris had said to Hank, “…from now on, Hank, I shall always come to you for the definition of anything which I do not understand as the internet had provided me with six descriptions and I became baffled upon attempting to define that Divya’s and Jeremiah’s relationship was an inanimate object…”

“So, have they talked about getting married?” Hank prodded Evan.

“Well, not to me, Bro; that’s kinda private stuff for them, don’t ya think?” Evan said is mock surprise.

Hank’s expression was just: ‘Oh Evan’.

 

Later on, Hank went over to Divya and Jeremiah to sincerely and warmly congratulate them on their news.

Jeremiah said plainly, “We heard that you were the last to hear that Divya and I had started seeing one another.”

“Yeah, I’m always the last to know,” Hank said with a laugh, “But seriously, congratulations you two, I am really, really happy for you both.”

“Thank you, Hank, it’s been, and continues, to be quite lovely,” Divya said with a radiant smile, a slight blush, and a gentle squeeze of Jeremiah’s hand.

Jeremiah smiled his calm smile and nodded his head.

“You know I have to ask, any future plans?” Hank said slyly.

Jeremiah looked at Divya and said, “I believe that someone here wants to be the first know of any news instead of being the last to know.”

“Yes, Jeremiah, it would appear so,” Divya laughed.

 

~~~

 

Christmas morning arrived and for Boris, very early. He was excited about what his plans were and so he awoke well before dawn. He didn’t get out of bed, but stayed still under the blankets next to Hank as he went over the details in his mind. He hoped that Hank wouldn’t be upset with him for waking him for some extremely early ‘private time’ and then followed by the hand-cooked breakfast which he had planned.

Boris began slowly, turning himself on his left side so that he could face Hank who was sleeping on his back. The room was only illuminated by the dim amber lamp on Hank’s night table. Boris rested his head on his left hand as his left arm propped him up. He admired Hank’s face, so peaceful in slumber with that slight smile that always seemed to tug at the corners of his mouth. 

Boris had finally grown accustomed to Hank’s ‘Fashion Model Winter Beard’ (Boris’ words), yet Boris thought it made Hank look a few years older than he really was, even though Hank showed no grey hair at all, neither on his head nor in his beard. Boris didn’t share that thought with Hank because Hank was really fond of his beard and Boris knew that Hank would shave it off immediately if he learned of Boris’ thought. 

Age really wasn’t a factor for Boris anyway now (even though he had made references to, and joked about it, with Hank in the past about his own age being ten years Hank’s senior, which Hank strongly then prohibited Boris to do); to Boris, Hank would always show the type of joy and eagerness on his face and in his mannerisms which made Hank ageless whether Hank was 45 or 95. Hank made Boris feel younger and ever more so now because of the stresses that Hank had helped to eliminate from Boris’ life and the unconditional love Hank gave to Boris. Boris always hoped that Hank knew that Boris’ love was unconditional as well. 

For a few moments, Boris wished that they were both naked, that would have made things a lot easier; but as usual, the fire had gone out overnight and their Apartment, though continually heated (yet only slightly due to Hank’s more warm-blooded nature) with in-floor heating and forced air heating, to Boris the room always had a chill in the air. He thought about the cold winter weather outside, and Boris was grateful for their bedclothes, silk for him, cotton for Hank, and the bedding that they were buried under was soft and there were multiple layers. They would soon generate their own heat and in excess.

Boris leaned over and at the same time he nuzzled Hank’s neck, he used his lips to play with Hank’s earlobe and gently exhaled his warm breath onto Hank’s neck; Boris’ right hand, which he made certain was warmer than his usual cool temperature, slipped underneath Hank’s sleep shirt smoothly and slowly across Hank’s muscular abdomen and to places even lower... 

Hank awakened, moaned and his body responded accordingly; he didn’t open his eyes, but said quietly, “And M-Merry Christmas to you, B-Boris, oh, wow…”

“Merry Christmas, my beloved One,” Boris whispered in Hank’s ear as he moved somewhat and used his hands and his body to do many pleasing things to Hank…

 

“This is the best Christmas morning that I have ever had,” Hank said quietly; his head was on Boris’ chest, his eyes were closed, his arms wrapped around Boris and his legs tangled with Boris’ legs.

Lying on his back, Boris’ arms were also wrapped around Hank, he smiled and he gently stroked Hank’s hair with the fingers on his left hand as he replied, “Ja, for me as well, but it is not over yet; I am going to cook your breakfast for you this morning. I believe you may have worked up an appetite.”

“What?! YOU’RE going to cook for me?!” Hank raised his head and looked at Boris in surprise.

Boris tilted his head and looked at Hank, smiled as he nodded his head slowly and he watched the idea dawn on Hank’s face.

“The entire staff has the day off until dinner which will be a buffet for all of us to enjoy together. Chef has prepared self-service meals for them which they can retrieve at their leisure throughout the day. Chef told me that he is even taking most of the day off. We shall have the entire kitchen to ourselves this morning. So, I will be preparing for you a fine breakfast, during which you will do nothing but sit at the kitchen island, drink your coffee, eat your breakfast, look handsome, and keep me company whilst I cook,” Boris stated happily. 

Hank moved himself on top of Boris, with his legs on each side of Boris’ body at his hips, knees bent and as he leaned over with his hands buried in Boris’ hair, he smothered Boris’ face with kisses.

 

A short while later, (it was just dawn now) after Boris had put on his dressing gown over his pajamas, and donned his slippers, Boris said, as he tossed Hank’s rolled up robe and slippers to him, “Come Hank, put these on and let us go to the Kitchen!”

“You mean, we’re not getting dressed?!” Hank said in surprise as he caught the bundle with ease.

“No! Not this morning, I fancy us to be the perfect scene of domestic wedded bliss,” Boris announced proudly as he quickly walked to their Apartment door, opened it wide and stepped out into the corridor.

“Hey! Is that from one of the movies we watched?” Hank said as he untangled in his robe, stepped hurriedly into his slippers and almost in a trot, quickly followed Boris out into the corridor, putting his robe on while he looked downward and behind him to try and find the belt.

“No,” Boris stopped abruptly, turned slightly, and Hank walked right into him, “I made that up myself.”

“Nice!” Hank said smiling as he looked up at Boris. 

Boris looked down at Hank, smiled widely then straightened Hank’s robe and tied the belt for him.

They continued through the empty corridors of the house and into the Kitchen. It was comfortably warm in the Kitchen because of the always-on gas pilot lights, but it was dark, and Boris switched on every light he could find which made the kitchen seem to shine.

“Please, Hank, sit over here, and I shall prepare us some coffee to get started,” Boris said as he graciously guided Hank to a stool at the island, relishing the fact that they were all alone.

Boris surveyed the kitchen from left to right, his finger pointing as if he was reading a blueprint and began in earnest. He brewed coffee and while that happened, Boris began to pull out ingredients from many different places, the walk-in refrigeration, the pantry, and some cupboards and soon a vast array of food, kitchen tools and tableware were spread out on the island. 

Coffee was ready by this time and Boris poured two cups for them to enjoy, placing Hank’s in front of him on a matching saucer and with napkin which Hank didn’t realize that Boris had even pulled out. Boris took several sips of his coffee as he started to arrange the random foods into what looked like groupings. 

“This is what is referred to as mise en place, Hank. Cooks gather what they need, arrange everything in order, measure and then proceed to cook, quite the epitome of efficiency,” Boris said happily, taking a few more sips of coffee, and refreshing his and Hank’s coffee as well.

“This morning’s menu will be a Sautéed Spinach, Crimini Mushroom and Sweet Onion Quiche with Roasted Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes and Feta Cheese, Prosciutto Wrapped Honeydew Melon Wedges and Fresh Orange Juice,” Boris announced just as Chef Henri, Udo, Khalil and John Michel all walked into the kitchen, all of them also dressed in their night clothes, robes and slippers.

“Oh, eh, good morning! Merry Christmas, gentlemen!” Boris said loudly in surprise, “Hank, it appears that we have company, do you mind?”

“Uh, no; this is great! Merry Christmas, guys!” Hank said as he got off his stool and walked over to shake everyone’s hands.

Tentative and shy ‘Good Mornings’ and ‘Merry Christmases’ were offered in return; the four men could not believe what they were seeing. Boris had never cooked for anyone before and they were shocked into silence.

“Hank, I will allow you to do two things: first, get these gentlemen seated at the island, and second, please pour them coffee,” Boris instructed as he continued to prepare the breakfast.

“Will do!” Hank said happily and followed Boris’ orders. Then, after he refreshed Boris’ coffee and his own once more, he sat down with the four other men.

As Boris continued to cook, conversation became lively and everyone relaxed. The kitchen intruders felt that they had to explain themselves and apologize profusely as they had obviously barged in on an activity meant only for Boris and Hank. At one point, they tried to excuse themselves from the breakfast event as they felt so ashamed to have interrupted the Masters. Boris stopped his cooking movements abruptly, he held a wooden spoon in mid air, and looked at each one of them, eyebrows knitted and with ‘laser beam eyes’ (Hank’s words).

“Uh, guys, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, please just enjoy yourselves and stay with us,” Hank offered with a smile.

Boris said, “Quite,” and he continued to cook.

Chef couldn’t help himself and admitted, no matter what the day was, that he would always be in his kitchen; Udo said that he had checked on them at their Apartment, found it empty and the door wide open and went in search of them to make sure they were all right; Khalil and Jon Michel met Udo along the way as they had been to the Control Room and saw that there was unknown and unplanned activity in the Kitchen and had to check the situation out.

Hank said with a big smile, “My reason for being here is that HE’S cooking ME breakfast.”

They watched Boris’ flurry of organized activity of making the quiche crust to chopping, slicing, sautéing, and roasting the vegetables and herbs, to scrambling and seasoning the eggs; and he handled the ten-inch chef’s knife with ease and began to carve the melon wedges. Boris looked like he got an idea and retrieved another honeydew melon from the walk-in which he then promptly carved into a swan, cleaned out the seeds and filled it with a variety of rinsed fresh berries. He looked up at the men (who were dumbstruck) and innocently said as he carefully placed the melon-swan in front of them on the island, “We shall need a table decoration, ja? And this is edible, too. Nothing is wasted.”

As Boris waited for the quiche to finish in the oven, he made fresh squeezed orange juice which he poured in crystal goblets. He set their place settings in front of them, smiled as he surveyed the island and all those seated around it with his hands on his hips just as the oven timer went off.

Chef started to rise from his stool to assist Boris, and Udo said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Chef. This is temporarily not your Kitchen right now.” 

Chef nodded his head and sat back down.

Boris made a presentation of the quiche and served each man a hefty portion along with delicate wedges of the melon wrapped in paper-thin prosciutto slices wound precisely around the melon like two-toned ribbon. Boris had set himself a place, but since there were no more stools, he stood at his place setting and said, “Bon Appetite, mes amis.”

Khalil started to rise from his stool to give it to Boris, and Hank said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Khalil. I can tell that he is really happy where he is right now.” 

Khalil nodded his head and sat back down.

 

After breakfast, Boris set to cleaning up. Everyone wanted to help, but all offers were rejected by Boris; and after Boris politely suggested to Chef, Udo, Khalil, and Jon Michel that they enjoy the rest of their day, which meant: ‘you can leave now’, Boris finished his clean-up and sat with Hank at the island as they enjoyed the last of the orange juice and fruit.

“This was amazing and delicious, Boris. You’ve obviously had training, no one wields a knife like that naturally, I would think. Where did you learn how to cook?” Hank asked.

“One of the things I did as a young man, Hank, was that I received a Grand Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris after my studies concluded there,” Boris said humbly.

“Wow! I think that Chef was quite impressed, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him so quiet before,” Hank said as he took a sip of the juice and reached over to snack on the last few berries.

“Chef actually studied at the same school as I; we were three years apart in our classes. I hired him away from the school a decade later, as he had become a professor there and was looking for a change,” Boris stated as he sipped on his glass of orange juice, “I never told him that he and I are alumni as I did not want him to think he had competition. I am certainly not going to take up the toque blanche and cook on a regular basis, so he does not have anything to be concerned with. Chefs can have notoriously fragile egos and I would not dream of deflating his; Chef Henri’s skills are ‘Plus superbe’.” 

Boris continued as he thought out loud, “Hmmm, I shall have to take him aside this evening during the buffet and talk with him in earnest about this morning’s event to make certain he is comfortable and to apologize to him, if necessary. I certainly was not expecting him, or anyone else, to show up this morning and thus witness what culinary skills I do still possess. I hope that he has not taken offense by my invading his domain,” Boris said sincerely as he looked around the kitchen to survey it and make certain that he had left it pristine.

Hank loved the way Boris said the word: ness ess ree.

Hank started laughing and said, “The looks on all of their faces were hilarious! And then their explaining and apologizing…they were so embarrassed and so sincere. They knew they had stumbled into something they shouldn’t have and it was very kind of you to make breakfast for them, too!”

Boris said, “The very aspect of food and cooking brings people together and sharing is just a natural part of that. Although my plan was to only cook for you, Hank, I must say that I truly enjoyed cooking for all of them as well. There was not anything left over, save for a few of these berries, did I make enough food?”

“Oh yeah, it was perfect. Thank you so much, Boris; I wasn’t expecting Christmas morning to be what it has turned out to be,” Hank said as he looked at Boris fondly and placed his left hand on Boris’ upper right arm.

“And you are not angry with me for waking you so early?” Boris asked with a sly look on his face.

“What?! Why could I be angry about that? This has been the best Christmas ever! Hey! Come with me to the Main Living Room for a few minutes okay?” Hank said with as innocent of a face as he could muster.

They finished their juice and washed the glasses, setting them on a rack to dry before they walked to the Main Living Room. The only thing left on the kitchen island was the carved melon swan.


	17. Radiance, Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharing joy and caring openly and deeply is purely a gift from the heart.

Someone (it was Udo) had turned on all of the holiday lights that were part of the beautiful decorations which had been installed throughout the Foyer, the two dining rooms, and the Main Living Room. Gentle early morning sunlight was just starting to come in through the now opened curtains. The room glowed with the white lights and reflected brightly off of the silver, gold and red décor. The only thing missing was a robust fire; but because it was still very early, the fire in the fire place was merely embers from the night before and no one had a chance to build it up yet. The twelve-foot tall, realistic-looking tree was resplendent with various glittering ornaments and garland. Underneath the tree were three gift-wrapped packages neatly nestled on the red velvet tree skirt.

As they walked over to the tree, Hank tried to hide his surprise at seeing three packages and Boris tried to hide his surprise at seeing three packages as well. They looked at each other and laughed. 

Hank crouched down and read the tags, “Here’s one for Boris and another one for Boris and one for me!” 

Boris’ eyebrows raised in surprise.

Hank picked up the three packages, nodded to Boris to follow him to the couch where they sat down together. Hank placed the three gifts on the coffee table; the two smaller packages were strangely similar and were exactly the same size.

Hank took the large package and handed it Boris and said, “Merry Christmas, Tree. This won’t even come close to the gift of you making me breakfast this morning, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.”

Hank motioned for Boris to open the large package. Boris unwrapped the box and as he lifted the lid and gently peeled away the tissue paper, he face lit up with true delight. Boris lifted the ornate, gilded frame out of the box and admired the 8x10 black and white photo of Sergei Rachmaninoff inside. Hank set the box and the wrapping on the floor under the coffee table.

“It’s actually signed by him, see? He did this in 1941, which was three years before he passed away. I had it certified to be authentic that this is his actual signature, oh, and the certificate is on the back; and it’s been sealed in the frame like what museums do, with an acid-free mat and backing and anti-glare glass to keep it from fading,” Hank said gently pointing to the autograph and the certificate hoping that Boris would like his gift, and he looked at Boris eagerly.

Boris’ smile was so genuine and warm as he looked up from the photograph to gaze at Hank; he cleared his throat and said, “This is beyond magnificent, beyond thoughtful, my beloved One…thank you.”

“Oh, I’m so glad that you like it, I was worried, but then, that’s what I do, I worry about things,” Hank said cheerfully relieved.

Boris opened the easel back to prop the photo on the coffee table in front of them. They looked at it for a moment and then Boris placed his left hand on Hank’s neck and looked deep into his eyes, “It is the perfect gift, thank you.”

Hank placed his right hand on Boris’ arm and smiled widely.

Hank then looked at the two strangely similar gift-wrapped boxes still sitting on the coffee table, and slyly said, “What are these about? They look exactly the same size!”

“Well, let us find out,” Boris said with equally as sly of an expression.

They reached out simultaneously and took the box intended for them; they opened the gift wrap and boxes at the same time and after a moment, they both burst into laughter which echoed in the large room.

Boris had arranged to have new business cards on white linen card stock in dark gold lettering made for Hank which read: Dr. Henry Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz.

Hank had arranged to have new business cards on white linen card stock in dark silver lettering made for Boris which read: Mr. Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz-Lawson.

 

Later that afternoon, Hank called Evan on the phone and asked if he and Boris could come over for a Christmas visit... 

Hank entered the Guest House first and said loudly, “Merry Christmas, Evan! Oh, wow!”

Boris walked in behind Hank and also started to say, “Merry Chri…” and then stopped and froze in place just inside the doorway because Evan had decided to decorate the Guest House with a ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ theme and now Boris was quite confused. As Boris didn’t want to appear rude, he slowly walked further into the house and continued, “Er, Merry Christmas, Evan, I see that you have done something unique once again.”

“Hey! Merry Christmas, you two! How do you like it?” Evan shouted cheerfully as he hugged Hank and vigorously shook Boris’ hand and leaned in for a hug to which Boris took a step back and smiled slightly with the hope that Evan would take the hint that he just didn’t want to be hugged at the moment; because, for Boris, simply too much was suddenly going on for his sensibilities to allow anyone that close in.

Evan nodded and smiled, and stepped back, as he was very proud of himself that he picked up on Boris’ ‘give me some space’ cue.

“Evan, you’re amazing! This is fantastic!” Hank exclaimed as he turned around where he stood so that he could take it all in.

Boris felt as if he was developing a head ache because of the wild colors and imagery that he was now surrounded by and that he tried to make sense of. He attempted to locate something more neutral that his eyes could settle on and had trouble doing so. He stepped aside and his left shoulder and ear brushed up against and got tangled slightly in a fake lime green cobweb, to which Boris just stopped, looked sideways at it and then looked at Hank with a very flat but intense expression.

Hank smiled, chuckled, quickly went over to Boris, reached up and detached him from the cobweb. Boris looked at Hank with that continued expression and said, “Thank you, Hank.”

Hank thought he saw a very slight glimmer of amusement in Boris’ eyes. He took Boris by the arm and guided him through the house so that he wouldn’t be attacked by any more décor as he said, “This is really amazing, don’t you agree, Boris?”

“Yes, quite,” was all Boris wanted to say at the moment as he let Hank lead him to the living room and over to a chair by the fireplace. Boris nodded to Hank his thanks and sat down feeling very grateful that there was a fire in the fireplace and that he had not been assaulted by any more odd things.

“I’m glad that you guys like it; I really wanted to do something different this year,” Evan said proudly as he held his hands wide at his sides and at shoulder height.

“Oh, ‘different’ would be just one of the descriptions I would call this, Evan,” Boris stated as he started to look around and then thought otherwise. He decided that he would ask Hank later, when he and Hank were alone, to explain all of it to him because Boris felt that his head would most likely explode if Evan got involved with the explanation.

“We bought some snacks and some wine,” Hank said as he started to unload the basket which he had set on the dining table before he guided Boris safely through the décor maze and to the chair. “Look, Evan!”

“Sweet, oh wow, deviled eggs and that cheese and meat pinwheel thing!” Evan exclaimed and then he picked up a wine bottle and read the label, “Champagne from, uh, somewhere where they have two-headed eagles; and I’ve even got clean glasses,” and he went to the cabinet and retrieved three fluted glasses, paused a moment and said, “Hey, Boris, do you want some of this wine or your usual water?”

“I shall join you both and enjoy the Champagne, thank you, Evan. By the way, it is a Canard-Duchêne from Champagne, France. It is of interest to note that this wine house had become suppliers to the Court of Tsar Nicolas II of Russia in 1890, and the two-headed eagle you refer to is from the Russian Imperial coat of arms which the winery adopted then as part of its logo. The symbol of the two-headed eagle is one of the oldest symbols of the duality of power of the emperor over both the state and the church, and that dates back to the Byzantine period,” Boris said lightly as he also then thought he would need something a little stiffer to drink because of décor attack, but that the champagne would simply have to do for the moment.

Evan leaned in and asked Hank quietly, “Wow, Hank, does he always talk like that?”

Hank smiled because he loved the way Boris said the word: ‘sham pan yay’, and he also loved it when the latent teacher in Boris showed; Hank replied equally as quiet and with fondness, “No, but I REALLY like it when he does.”

Boris’ exceptional hearing allowed him to hear everything they had said, but he chose to act as if he didn’t; he smiled slightly and looked at the fire.

The brothers launched into their classic banter. Boris relaxed and became quite satisfied at where he was, as it was warm by the fire, he was going to have a nerve-steadying drink in his hand soon, he was seated, and nothing was attacking him at the moment. He looked up slightly and now felt that he wasn’t quite as sure about things because he saw a rather large deranged-looking, oddly-shaped Santa figurine on the fireplace mantle which appeared to be poised to do battle with an equally large and strange, green sack-looking creature that had hollow black eyes. Boris turned his head away from that, he blinked hard as he tried to remove the confusing image from his mind, to watch the brothers somewhat manhandle the snacks they had brought onto platters. He shook his head slightly and smiled slightly again. 

Hank looked over at Boris and saw him as he just looked away from the mantle and blink. Hank looked at the mantle and saw what Boris had been looking at and smiled widely. They eyes met and Hank nodded, Boris just shrugged his shoulders.

As the brothers brought over the food and drinks, Evan asked, “So are you both having a great Christmas? Was Santa good to you? This is your first Christmas as newlyweds, aw, how sweet.”

Hank laughed (Boris rolled his eyes) and said, “Yes, Evan, it’s been a terrific Christmas,” Hank looked at Boris as he wasn’t sure if he should say anything further at that moment.

Boris stood up (he looked upward first to make certain he wasn’t going to connect with any decoration) and nodded his thanks as Evan handed him a glass of Champagne; he held up his glass to make a toast.

Evan had sat down and then stood up quickly again, “Oh yeah, I forgot, you guys do this…” Evan held his glass up.

Hank stood and smiled widely as he looked fondly at his husband and then at his brother, then back to his husband as he held his glass up as well.

“To family,” Boris said simply.

“Yes!” the two brothers said simultaneously.

They took a sip and smiled at one another. They placed their glasses on the table and surveyed the platters in front of them and began to fill their plates. Of course, Hank and Evan were both robust eaters and piled their plates high. 

Evan looked over at Boris’ plate on which you could still see some of the plate’s design between the few pieces of the food he chose and said, “You don’t ever eat much, do you Boris?” Evan asked this because he was curious about the noticeable contrast between what was on their plates.

“Yes, I find I can subsist on just enough, although your brother believes it otherwise,” Boris said kindly as he smiled at Hank.

“Yeah, it’s a continuing conversation between us, don’t get me started,” Hank said with a smile.

“So, you said you had a nice Christmas?” Evan asked again.

Hank and Boris looked at each other and smiled slightly, and then Boris replied, “Yes, Evan, it has been a most pleasurable of a day. I cooked your brother breakfast and he presented me with a framed and autographed photograph of Sergei Rachmaninoff.”

Hank was surprised that Boris shared this and smiled even wider.

“YOU cooked for HIM?” Evan said as he pointed to each one of them with his fork and the piece of a pickle that was on it, as he said it, “Uh, who is Ramanaminoff?” Evan stuffed the pickle into his mouth and chewed happily.

Hank laughed and almost choked on his sip of Champagne, “Yeah, we had the kitchen mostly to ourselves and Boris made a wonderful breakfast for me. Repeat after me, Evan: Rach…manin…noff.”

Evan swallowed, “Rach…manin…noff. Cool, who or what is that? Wait, isn’t that a classical music guy?” Evan asked.

Boris chuckled slightly as he set his now empty plate down on the table and picked up his glass, “Yes, Evan, he was a Russian composer and pianist; I quite favor his music and Hank was kind enough to locate that rare object and present it to me.”

“Awesome; I didn’t know you could cook, Boris,” Evan said with food in his mouth.

“Evan, stop talking with food in your mouth, please,” Hank said, “And yes, Boris certainly can cook.”

Evan finished chewing and swallowed, “Sorry about that; that’s great.”

Boris then, saw a nod from Hank, reached into his jacket breast pocket and retrieved a long ivory-toned envelope with Evan’s name written elegantly on the front. He leaned over to Evan and handed him the envelope and said sincerely, “Merry Christmas, Evan. Hank and I were uncertain of what to give you for Christmas so we thought that something which you could mold to your needs would be enjoyable.”

“For me? Wow, you didn’t have to do anything for me,” Evan said enthusiastically and put his plate down to take the envelope from Boris. He opened the envelope and there was a folded piece of Boris’ ivory-toned, matching stationery inside which Evan drew out and opened. The same elegant handwriting on the paper read, and Evan read it aloud, “Dear Evan, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Please consider this to be two round-trip plane tickets to anywhere in the world that you wish to travel to for a vacation. Udo will take care of the details for you; just let him know to where you wish to go and when you wish to do it; and by all means, please fly first class; With Warmest Regards and Affection, Hank and Boris.”

Evan was speechless for a moment, then recovered and said, “Guys, gees, this is too much, uh, but thank you very, very much.” He stood up and Hank stood up as well and they embraced. Evan turned towards Boris who also stood up and they looked at each other for a moment.

Boris said, “Just a small one, Evan, would be fine at this moment. Please do not crush my ribs as you usually attempt to do. I believe the bruise you left from the last one has just faded…”

Hank nodded and smiled knowing that Boris had just made a joke, and because he also knew that Boris didn’t have any extra weight to act as padding against Evan’s intense bear hugs; Boris and Evan embraced lightly and they all sat back down.

Boris looked around quickly for a moment thinking the décor had attacked him again, discovered the opposite, and then looked somewhat relieved.

Hank smiled and went to retrieve the Champagne bottle and refilled their glasses.

“I can tell that Boris wrote this because your handwriting sucks, Bro,” Evan said as he admired the writing on the paper. Evan was very taken by the fact that Boris had written this to him and in a moment of nostalgia, Evan decided to keep the paper and the envelope in his personal ‘memory box’ and hoped that Udo wouldn’t take it from him when he went to him to arrange the flights. 

“I’m a doctor and doctors have messy handwriting; what do you expect?” Hank said smugly as he held his hands out in front of himself with his palms up. 

Evan then said, with a slightly sad tone to his voice, “I didn’t know what to get you guys, because well, what DO you get people who have, well, everything?” Evan stood up and walked over to the mantle where he extracted what looked like a Christmas card from between the oddly-shaped Santa and the green sack creature figurines. (Boris was surprised as he hadn’t noticed the card there before and he had been staring at those two strange objects.)

“So, I asked Udo and he suggested that giving you both an opportunity for an experience would be a nice thing to do. So, I thought of this experience, and I want to say Merry Christmas to both of you, I hope you enjoy it,” Evan said cheerfully and he handed the card to Hank because even though Boris was closer, he graciously waved a hand over towards Hank’s direction.

Hank opened the Christmas card and another card fell in his lap, which he picked up and read aloud, “Two premium rounds of miniature golf at the East Hampton Putt Putt Golf Course. Oh, well, gees thanks Evan,” Hank smiled and started to laugh, “This is great!” Hank’s mind went into overdrive as he thought about how this experience was going to happen with the standard excursion process of three cars and security teams. He laughed more and stood up to embrace Evan heartily, “This is…very thoughtful.”

Boris held his hand to his forehead for a moment when Evan wasn’t looking at him, and he smiled very broadly in amusement. Boris’ mind was also going into overdrive as he thought about how Khalil would react to this. Boris regained his composure and said, “Thank you, Evan, this is thoughtful. Hank, I am certain that this will be something nice to do when the weather becomes more spring-like, ja?”

“I’m so glad that you guys like this, I was worried, and the premium rounds include two beverages, too!” Evan said, obviously relieved.

“So Evan, have you given any more thought to whether you’re going to take the Porsche?” Hank asked as he sat down and ate a few grapes and tried to reduce the grin on his face.

“Uh, yes, Henry and uh, Boris, I have given it a lot of thought,” Evan said as formally as he could manage, “I have decided that I would like to take the money from the sale of the Porsche and put some of it, not all of it towards a new car. The rest of it, most of it, I would like to put in an IRA, or something so I can retire young.”

“Bravo, Evan, a wise choice indeed,” Boris said proudly. Boris was surprised at this decision as he thought that Evan’s impetuous nature would take over; he truly wanted Evan to do the right thing for himself.

“Evan! I am so proud of you! That’s a great idea!” Hank said cheerfully.

“I shall make arrangements for the sale and present you with a check when it is finalized, ja? May I assume you have an idea of the automobile you want and an investment firm to manage the rest?” Boris asked.

“Uh, almost and no,” Evan said, “Bro, I was kinda hoping that you could help me pick out a car.”

“Sure, Evan, let’s start doing some research and when the weather clears, we can make appointments for some test drives,” Hank said.

“Great! About that investment firm, uh…” Evan started to say but then stopped.

“I shall have Udo give you the contact number of one of the Wealth Managers at Festung, our bank in New York. You can talk with them and decide whether they can assist you or you can choose someone from somewhere else,” Boris stated simply.

“Thanks, Boris, I appreciate all of this, I hope you both know that right?” Evan said with sudden sentimentality.

“Yeah, we do, Evan, don’t worry,” Hank said with a smile and patted Evan’s arm.

“Well, Evan, we must return to the Main House; there is a staff gathering set to occur in a short while and Hank and I must take care of a few things beforehand. Thank you for your hospitality,” Boris said as he stood up from his chair, “Hank would you be so kind as to escort me to the door in a manner that I will not…er…disturb any of Evan’s artistic placement of his…holiday…décor?”

Hank laughed and replied, “Of course, Boris; yeah, thanks Evan, this has been great.” Hank hugged Evan again and went over to Boris to be his guide once more.

Boris shook Evan’s hand and walked carefully next to Hank as they made their way to and out the side door. Boris only had to lower his head twice to avoid further entanglement.

 

Boris and Hank walked back to the Main House through the internal maze of corridors where it was warmer, rather than to go outside, where it was colder.

“I’m really looking forward to this evening,” Hank said enthusiastically.

“Ja, I am as well. I especially enjoy meeting with each of our staff and giving them their gift,” Boris said with a smile.

“I’ll explain later about Evan’s holiday decorations,” Hank stated and chuckled.

“Please do, Hank, I almost asked if there was an ibuprofen tablet which I could take with the Champagne,” Boris replied.

“How many times have I told you not to wash down medication with alcohol?” Hank said with a little exasperation.

“Ja, ja, ja...” Boris replied with a wave of his hand.

 

Every Christmas, Boris’ gift to each of the staff was a sizable amount of money presented in a hand-written check which was penned and given personally by Boris himself. After the Christmas Day Dinner, as everyone would mingle, Boris would seek out each staff member, wish them a Merry Christmas and give them their gift. 

The check was placed inside an elegant, customized gold and red card, with a matching envelope, and each with an individualized, hand-written (also by Boris) sentiment of sincerest thanks, well wishes and health for the upcoming year. Boris truly enjoyed privately spending the several days it took the week before Christmas Day, to write out and personally prepare the checks, cards, and envelopes for all of the 36 staff members.

This was the first Christmas at Shadow Pond that Hank was now a part of the ‘Shadow Pond Family’ (Boris’ words), and Boris was thrilled even more so to now be able share this holiday project with Hank. Boris still wrote out everything as they both knew that Hank’s handwriting was ‘awful’ (Hank’s words), and they spent hours in Boris’ office together as they decided upon the sentiments that Boris would write for them on the cards. Boris and Hank each signed the cards themselves. 

Hank was pleasantly surprised when Boris explained to Hank how much money he gave to each staff member. Hank told Boris that he was very proud to be the husband of such a generous man, to which Boris looked down humbly and smiled slightly.

Hank made (what he thought was) a casual remark to Boris at the beginning of the project that the staff were always such hard workers and now that he was part of the mix, they probably had to work even harder; then in the next moment, he verbally hoped that he didn’t cause them to work harder than they already did. Hank worried about things like that, and expressed that to Boris, and then also admitted that he tried to not ask for too many things or for too much help and whenever he asked for anything, he was always polite about it. It became obvious that Hank’s casual remark came from a much deeper emotional place within him.

Boris expressed his pride in Hank for being so considerate and then teased Hank, as he tried to lighten the suddenly somber mood, and used one of Hank’s own words.

“I am not,” Hank defended; he wasn’t teasing.

“Yes, you are being silly, Hank. The staff is here to assist us and they want to know what they can do to help. Give them the opportunity to fulfill their duties; this is important for everyone to be able to do. It is imperative for everyone to feel needed and necessary,” Boris said gently and with compassion, “It is, I believe, another form of love, do you not agree?”

Hank sighed and said, “Yeah, you’re right. But they didn’t ask me to come here and invade their home, or to put up with all of my quirks and ask where things are or for help…”

“Now you are being delightfully ridiculous, Hank, however, you can stop this at any time. I asked you to come here and live in my home and be with me as my companion; the staff accepted you without question as was expected of them. They know their duty and beside that, they are naturally considerate people...I would not have hired them if they were not. Also, how could you possibly know where things are, having never lived here before and with it being such an enormous house, of course you would need help. I can go on, if you would like me to,” Boris said with an amused tone to his voice.

Boris continued after a moment as he gave time for Hank to think about this and then came up with an idea, “Would it help you, er, ease your mind, if we simply doubled the gift starting this year moving forward? Perhaps that would help you to feel that their efforts on our behalf, now that they have us as a couple to care for, are now worth twice as much?” Boris tilted his head slightly, smiled in his usual way and softened his expression to show Hank he was very sincere, very willing, and very concerned.

Hank nodded his head in agreement as he looked at Boris, “Yeah, that would be a really nice thing to do, thanks,” he said quietly and then rose from the chair he was seated in next to Boris’ desk. Hank walked over to the closed French doors and looked out at the snow-covered Formal Gardens. He leaned against the alcove wall next to the door with his hands in the pockets of his sweater, strangely quiet.

Boris turned his office chair around in place to follow Hank as he went over to the window.

“Hank, please remember, too, that they are paid handsomely for their skills, they are provided for on all levels, now even more so because you are providing them with full medical care. They are given ample vacation time throughout the year and each one of them knows that if they have any need which arises outside of the normal course of their life, that we would always welcome them to come to us and ask for any guidance and assistance. We care for our staff very well, Hank, and in turn they care for us very well, ja?” Boris said sincerely.

Boris rose from his chair and went over to Hank; Boris stood behind Hank and moved tentatively to embrace him, he first placed his hands on both of Hank’s upper arms, as Boris wasn’t quite certain what more he could do at the moment to relieve his husband’s apparent concerns. Boris then wrapped his arms around Hank and Hank accepted the embrace and sunk into it as he leaned back and Boris was relieved that Hank didn’t pull away. They both looked out the window for a few moments and were silent.

Hank spoke quietly, “It just hit me how really different my life is now. There’s so much more responsibility; I care for our staff very much; they are really great people; and I guess that I just wasn’t aware of all of the other details involved. I just want them to be happy, and of course, healthy, and I don’t want to be any cause of trouble…”

“Shhh, now, there is no need to worry, my beloved One,” Boris said equally as quiet into Hank’s ear and held him a little more firmly, “I know, and they know, that you care for them. They are happy; please know this. I have actually sought out and asked each one of them this personally. They are extremely grateful to have you as their doctor and what they call ‘a master’.” 

Boris paused when he felt Hank tense a little bit; he gripped Hank more firmly and continued, “Now, I know this reference feels strange to you, the staff knows this as well and it is why they call you ‘Dr. Hank’. They call you this title because they know you are familiar with it and so that you should feel more comfortable here in your own home. Did you know this? Do you see how they care for you? We have age-old, European traditions here at Shadow Pond…all because of me, and of course, to a modern American man like yourself, this would all feel quite unusual.”

Boris continued after a pause, “All of us in this house have never had such completeness before, er, perhaps more correctly stated a true feeling of a manor, er, with a type of family, together. You have brought that completeness somehow and you have also brought joy, Hank. You are a part of us, as much as anyone else who lives here. For me, that feeling began the first day that you moved in with me. I think back now and wished I had been...eh, healthier then…so that I would have welcomed you more properly, more formally, and so that you, and I, would have enjoyed it more fully as well,” Boris hugged Hank more firmly for a moment.

Hank nodded and said, “Udo told me that you and I, both of us now, are the patriarchs of Shadow Pond. I don’t know what I’m doing; I’ve never been a patriarch before. It’s a big responsibility; is there even a job description? I just hope that I‘m doing it right.”

“Oh, but you are, my beloved One, you are,” Boris said as he put his lips to Hank’s temple, kissed it gently and continued to hold Hank close to him as he made them both sway a little side to side (Boris didn’t care at this point who was in the Control Room watching them), “You have brought so much more to this house, to this staff, and especially…to me… more than anyone - even you, I think - could have dreamt possible. Oh, my happy, caring, brilliant, adorable Hank, please release your worrisome nature, at least for a little while, and take in the harmony of this place. You are home, you are my husband, and you are loved. All you must do is to continue to be yourself.”

Hank turned around within Boris’ embrace and faced him. Hank looked up at Boris and the light from the window made Boris’ eyes look silver. Boris’ expression was kind and compassionate and there was the slight tilt of his head and the small smile that Hank always melted under. 

Boris asked in his deep voice as he nodded his head, “Are you going to say that we are being ‘weird’ again?”

Hank replied with a little smile and said, “Not as far as you know…” 

Hank knew they were alone and the door to Boris’ office was closed (but he had forgotten that Boris’ office was under surveillance), Hank reached up and placed his hand on the back of Boris’ neck to bend him into a kiss. 

Boris hesitated for a mere fraction of a moment, an old habit as he remembered again that they were being watched, and then Boris quickly thought to himself, ‘Hank needs this, I must not deny him. Our staff will make due…’ Boris bent his head and kissed Hank with great passion as he held Hank tightly.

 

Anthony smiled, nodded his head, turned off the cameras in Boris’ office, and erased what was on the recording. He added to his written report for Khalil, which denoted the date and the time frame, and it simply stated “…the Masters needed their privacy…”

 

~~~

 

The Shadow Pond Christmas Dinner Buffet was the event that the entire staff looked forward to each year. They were able to gather, like a family, in the beautifully decorated Main Dining Room with a friendly fire blazing in the fireplace. 

It was a casual event and everyone was relaxed and happy to simply enjoy the evening. 

Boris did not wear a tie or a pocket square, but he did wear a thick burgundy silk scarf wound around his neck, and his black velvet, double breasted suit coat because he wasn’t spending the whole evening next to the fireplace and the scarf and coat helped him to keep warm. 

Hank went all out and wore his only Christmas sweater, much to Boris’ dismay. The Christmas sweater had bright colors and the image of a holiday tree on the front with tiny lights that actually lit up, and blinked, and were powered by a small battery pack tucked away in the back pocket of Hank’s trousers. Hank was very proud of his ‘ugly Christmas sweater’ (Hank’s words).

As the two men walked from their Apartment down the corridor on their way to the Main Dining Room, Boris asked Hank, “How can I, or anyone for that matter, take you seriously when you are wearing that…eh…unique piece of clothing?”

“That’s just the point, Boris, tonight the only serious things are the wishes everyone is sharing with each other, everything else is up for grabs,” Hank said happily.

“Oh, good lord, Hank! What if someone wants to embrace you during this jovial event, will they not be electrocuted?” Boris asked simply, but jokingly and he fingered one of the lights.

“You are so funny, a good joke; but no one is going to get shocked by four, triple A batteries. Seriously, Boris, doesn’t this sweater just scream ‘me’?” Hank said with a huge smile and his arms out wide at his sides and his palms up.

“I refuse to answer that question and will say only this: at the end of this evening, when we have returned to our Apartment, I shall take great delight in removing that…thing…from your otherwise enticing body so that I can have my way with said enticing body,” Boris said with his chin up and a wicked look in his eyes.

“Nice!” Hank replied with an even bigger smile on his face as they entered the dining room together.

A vast array of food had been prepared and was served buffet-style so that no one had to work; there was lively conversation and laughter; bottles and bottles of all manner of sparkling wines from all around the world were enjoyed by all: Champagnes from France, Cavas from Spain, Franciacortas and Moscatos from Italy, Reisling Sekts from Germany, and Brut and Rosé Sparkling Wines from America. 

This year, new to the gathering was Hank’s other holiday music compilation which played in the background and added substantially to the festive atmosphere.

Udo was the first to greet the them as they entered the dining room, “Good evening, Masters, and a very Merry Christmas to you both!” Udo bowed deeply to Boris.

Boris placed a hand on Udo’s shoulder as he rose up from his bow. They looked at each other with friendliness and that all-knowing type of expression that spoke to the years that they had been together. Hank watched the sincerity between them and could feel the waves of gratitude.

“It has been a long time, eh, Udo, you and I? You have seen me through a great deal of…” Boris stopped for moment.

Udo finished his sentence, “A great deal of interesting times, Sir. Yes! Now there will be more interesting times, but so much better times,” He said with a smile as he looked at Hank when he said this, turned to him and bowed deeply again.

“You are so amazing, Udo, I don’t know where to begin to thank you, but please know that I appreciate you so much; you’ve helped me in so many ways,” Hank said with a smile and took both of Udo’s hands in his own to shake them vigorously.

Boris had taken a step away, and then back, to pick up three glasses of the Reisling Sekt from the nearby beverage table and held them so that Udo took the first one, which he was shy to do and had to be prompted, and Hank took the second one. Boris held his glass up a bit and looked at both of them, his eyes shining and said, “I would not be alive today if it were not for both of you, individually and collectively. Thank you.” Boris then bowed his head, and not slightly. The three men took a sip of the wine.

A lively tune started to play and Hank took the opportunity (as he was getting a little choked up) to say, “How do like my sweater, Udo?”

“Ah, it, uh, blinks, Sir. Very festive!” Udo replied smiling as he looked up at Boris.

Boris chuckled deeply and took another sip. With his other hand, he reached into his suitcoat pocket and withdrew a silver and green envelope with Udo’s name written on it. “Udo, this is from us, Hank and I, and it certainly does not even begin to correctly express the totality of our gratitude, but…”

“We hope you understand what we mean when we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Hank finished.

Udo froze as he was quite overwhelmed at the moment, he coughed nervously (he held the back of his hand at his lips), said quietly and bowed deeply again, “Thank you, my Masters. As I mentioned to you when we were in South Africa, you are giving me the opportunity to fulfill my life’s purpose, I need nothing more; you know this is not necessary.”

“Yeah, its kinda necessary, Udo,” Hank said with chuckle, a wink and a big smile.

Boris nodded his head and smiled as he waited for Udo to take the envelope from his hand.

Udo bowed again, took the envelope and smiled at both of them.

“Come gentlemen; let us partake in these festivities!” Boris said loudly as he guided both Udo and Hank further into the room.

 

The evening progressed along very comfortably and happily for everyone and no one thought about any type of work or trouble. Boris and Hank sought out each staff member and took them aside graciously to personally thank them and present them with their gift. The two men enjoyed this more than they imagined that they would; Boris couldn’t help but find Hank ‘unfairly adorable’ (Boris’ words) during this process because Hank said to everyone how much he appreciated their care and patience with him. The staff could tell he was sincere, and worried, and tried to assure him that everything was just fine and that they were pleased and honored to care for him as well.

At one point in the evening, Boris sat down with Chef at the far end of the dining table and one could tell it was a serious discussion. They both had glasses of French Champagne in front of them but did not drink, and they spoke only in French and it was an animated discussion.

 

Hank was across the room as he enjoyed the company of Richard, Julia and Masaharu, the Gardeners; they explained to him that they had nurtured two new bonsai trees that would be incorporated into the Meditation Terrace in the spring. Hank was very happy because he knew that Boris would enjoy that a lot. Hank kept asking them how they kept old-looking trees so small and contained. 

Hank looked over and saw Boris as he talked with Chef and smiled. 

Hank explained to the Gardeners that he had such a ‘black thumb’, not a ‘green thumb’, that he could even kill weeds. They all laughed and said that they needed his talents in that aspect. Julia asked Dr. Hank if he would like to learn gardening and Hank declined politely, and said, “I would probably kill everything in the greenhouse,” Hank then asked to see the injured area on Masaharu’s hand, as he was always Dr. Hank; Masaharu had been injured in early November and had been treated by Hank. Pruning tall trees was always a dangerous task.

 

Boris expressed his concern that he had angered Chef because Boris had used his kitchen earlier that day, technically without Chef’s permission, to make Hank breakfast. Boris began to apologize to Chef for this action and Chef stopped him cold. 

“To watch you cook, it was like watching myself cook; c’est magnifique! You have been classically trained, non?” Chef Henri asked eagerly.

Boris then admitted to Chef of their Le Cordon Bleu alumni status and that launched them into more animated discussion, still in French, and they began to laugh heartily while Chef explained that this was the best thing in the world to learn about. Chef had always wondered how Boris knew so much about food, and that he seemed to request just the right things at all of the correct times.

In French, Boris said that he would take Chef into his confidence the next time Boris had a desire to cook and would ask for permission to use Henri’s kitchen first. Chef reminded Boris that Boris was the master of the house and could have anything he wanted and at any time that he wanted it, even if it meant for Chef to cook over a candle outside naked in the snow.

Both Boris and Chef laughed, stood up, toasted each other, in French, drank and then shook hands fiercely. As Chef walked away from the table, he was barraged by his Sous Chefs, Mack and Viv, with questions (they were afraid they were in trouble because of how serious Boris and Chef had appeared early on in their conversation) and one could hear Chef saying, “The Master is a Chef, too! C’est magnifique! Come, let us eat, again!”

 

A little while later, Boris and Hank were sitting together in the lounging area and they enjoyed the fire and some coffee as they watched their staff mingle and enjoy themselves. All of their gifts had been presented and the two men looked at each other fondly.

Then, the entire security team led by Khalil walked over to them. One could imagine that it would be really something special when all ten of your security staff members suddenly converge on you. Boris and Khalil locked eyes and smiled at each other.

“Are we in trouble, again?” Hank asked tentatively because he couldn’t decide if there was a problem or not because of the way that Boris and Khalil were smiling at each other. Ten men all dressed in black, standing in front of you is somewhat alarming, and especially if most of them are ex-Mossad, as they just have this look…

Boris stood up, and then Hank did the same, but not with the same graceful movement.

“Good evening, gentlemen, Merry Christmas; I take it that everything and everyone in Shadow Pond is safe and secure?” Boris asked lightly.

The team members either responded with ‘Good evening, Sirs’ or ‘Merry Christmas, Sirs’. Hank kept looking over at Boris to attempt to get a read on the situation and he couldn’t figure out Boris’ smile.

Khalil said, “Daniel, you are in charge at the moment…”

“Yes, sir,” Daniel cleared his throat and walked in front of the group. He carried a fairly large, flat white box with a large silver bow on the top center and said, “We would like to present you both with this gift, just a little remembrance and that we wanted to thank you both for everything that you do for us,” Daniel handed the box forward and Hank took it.

Boris and Hank looked at each other and Boris gave Hank a calm smile as if to say that everything is fine. Hank sighed with relief. Boris lifted the lid of the box and inside was a book. But not just any book…

Boris laid the lid aside as Hank took the book out of the box bottom, which Boris also set aside. They looked at the book and smiled, looked at each other and then looked at Daniel and the team.

Daniel said, “We took some photos during the African Safari and had them made into a book for both of you. We know that trip was special for you and hoped that you would both enjoy this memory book of that time.”

Hank opened the book and started to turn the pages and began to laugh and point, Boris leaned in to view the photos on the pages and laughed as well.

The security all started to nod and smile as Hank waved them all over to look with them and there was more pointing and laughter. Questions were asked: When did that happen? (Early in the morning, we had hangovers…) Who are they? (Samual and Joseph, our Safari Guides…) Did you really get close to that lion? (Yes, but the rhino was more of a threat…) What is that giraffe doing? (It is trying to eat Anthony’s hat…) How was that keg of beer? (Delicious and cold and we drank it all…) What did you eat for lunch? (Water buffalo, naan bread and a vegetable we can’t pronounce…) What is that group of people doing? (Singing to us as a choir…)

“Hey, guys! This is fantastic!” Hank exclaimed, “Thank you so much!”

“Simply marvelous, gentlemen, thank you,” Boris said as he turned back a page to view it again while Hank held the book.

Khalil then stated, “And the next time that the two of you decide to play…in…the…snow again, you must include Misha here,” He patted Misha on the shoulder and looked at Hank sternly because Hank had started the battle.

Hank smiled sheepishly, “Sure, anyone can join in, why you, Misha?”

Misha swallowed and admitted then to the entire group that he had never been in a snow ball fight, everyone laughed and Anton and Jacob began to pat Misha on his shoulders.

“I have a distinct feeling that there will be another snow battle tomorrow, with or without us, Hank,” Boris said with a smile.

There were approval nods and agreements offered all around.

 

About an hour later, Boris and Hank decided it was the end of the day for them and said their ‘good evening’ to Udo. The party would last for a while longer, as there was still food and a serious card game with drinking had started with Gregor, Khalil, Dumont, Nadine, Frank, Richard, and Simone.

Udo suggested that their breakfast could be brought to their Apartment and they agreed, “I shall make the arrangements. Sleep well, Sirs, and Merry Christmas once again.”

“Merry Christmas, Udo, thank you,” Boris said while he shook Udo’s hand.

“Thanks so much, Udo, Merry Christmas,” replied Hank as he patted Udo’s shoulder.

 

The two Masters walked down the corridor to their Apartment and took a moment to view their portrait. Boris chuckled and started to walk, with Hank beside him.

“What a terrific day!” Hank exclaimed as he stretched and then reached a hand back to take out the battery pack for the sweater lights from his back pocket to turn it off, “They all LIKED my sweater.”

Boris chuckled again and said, “And I should LIKE to take it off of you right now…”

 

Later that evening, after the event had ended and all had been cleaned up, cleared away and put away, and still later when everyone was either in their rooms or asleep, Udo sat in his favorite chair in his Apartment’s seating area and enjoyed a cup of jasmine green tea. He stared into the small fire that gently burned in the fireplace.

He smiled to himself and thought fondly about everything that happened during this, the most wonderful Christmas Day that he could ever recall. Udo thought about how truly happy, and very healthy, BOTH of his Masters looked; he sighed deeply and felt gratitude and wonder. He was also pleased that every staff member seemed to have had a marvelous time, and then Udo thought, somewhat surprised, ‘So did I.’

Udo looked over at the silver and green envelope, still unopened, which he had placed on the side table next to his tea cup. Udo touched a corner of the envelope. He noticed that the other staff members received gold and red envelopes and simply hoped that everyone was happy. Udo thought to himself, ‘The Masters are so generous, truly more than they need to be, but that is their nature.’ 

Udo then used his pointer finger to trace the letters of his name written by Boris’ hand on the envelope, not knowing what to think, except he still knew that his Masters had not needed to give him anything. Every day with them was a gift to Udo, this is what he believed.

Udo thought to himself that it would be rude to not open the envelope gift and so he took a deep breath and moved the tea cup further from him on the table and the envelope closer to him. He traced his name again and thought about Boris; Udo said aloud to himself, “A very great man.” They had been through so much together and Udo had nearly lost Boris several times over the last few years. He shuddered slightly and forcefully pushed those awful thoughts away in his mind.

Then Udo smiled and thought about Dr. Hank and how Hank had rescued Boris, and himself, and Udo chuckled to himself, because he thought about how Hank made Udo laugh even when he didn’t know he needed to laugh, and then said aloud, “A wonderful man who belongs with the very great man and vice versa.” 

Udo then opened the envelope. Inside were several papers; they were folded in thirds and as he unfolded them all together, a hand-written letter addressed to him was on top; Udo read the letter and his eyes misted.

‘Dearest Udo, Your humbleness and devotion to both of us is beyond words we can describe. We hope that you know that our appreciation comes from a depth in our hearts that is only reserved for you. We know you are shy about accepting this gift, but please do so, if only to make us happy. Please keep these legal documents in a safe place should you ever need to retrieve or use them and our legal counsel will always be at your beck and call. The first document provides you with a current one-third ownership in the Brilliance Mine - you shall begin to receive proceeds from the mine as it continues to do business beginning in January and onwards into the future. The second document provides you with full ownership of the Brilliance Mine when we pass away, either individually or together. You are extraordinary, Udo; thank you for taking care of us. With Our Most Highest Regards and Affection, Boris and Hank’

 

~~~

 

The new year...

“Hank, my beloved One, you seem feverish,” Boris said quietly and with concern, his hand rested gently on Hank’s chest at his heart.

Hank whispered, “Yeah, I think I have a fever and my throat hurts, too.”

It was now a few days after the new year had begun and it was well after eight in the morning. Hank was still asleep when Boris had gotten out of bed an hour earlier. Boris had felt Hank’s warmth as usual when they were next to each other in bed, but Boris had begun to think it was more than that, especially when Hank didn’t wake up right away. Boris let Hank sleep, but when he looked at Hank a little while later, he looked pale and had a sheen of sweat on his face.

“Should we take your temperature, just to be certain?” Boris asked, “I have brought it from your medical bag.”

Again in a whisper, “Okay,” Hank replied from where he was on the bed.

Boris had learned how to operate the temperature gauge as he had watched Hank use it on himself more times than Boris remembered. He turned on the device, touched the end to Hank’s forehead, slid it gently along Hank’s skin to his temple and then moved it along his skin to below and behind his right earlobe. The device showed 101 degrees.

Boris’ lips drew into a straight line when he read the window and then looked at Hank. He turned the device to show Hank, who squinted his eyes at it and then nodded his head with understanding.

“Shall I get you a glass of water and an ibuprofen tablet?” Boris asked gently as he thought that beyond getting a moist cloth for Hank’s forehead, he wasn’t certain what he could do next to help ease Hank’s discomfort.

Hank nodded as his throat was on fire like the rest of his body.

Boris stood up from the bed, got a glass of water from the ‘water table’ and the bottle of ibuprofen from the bathroom; he also took a washcloth, drenched it with cool water, wrung it out so that it wasn’t dripping wet and returned to Hank’s bedside.

Hank took the tablet that Boris offered him and grimaced as he swallowed the water. Boris placed the glass of water on Hank’s nightstand and then laid the wet cloth gently across Hank’s forehead.

“What may I do for you now?” Boris asked quietly.

“Not much right now, Tree. I probably have the flu, so I’ve just got to rest,” Hank whispered and grimaced again, “Do we have any throat lozenges?” 

“I shall check,” Boris said as he rose from the bed and went to the bath room. He returned and shook his head, “I will call Udo and see if he knows if there are any in the house,” Boris took his cell phone and called, “Good morning, Udo? Is that you? You do not sound well.”

Udo had tried to answer the phone, but started coughing instead, when he was able to speak, he replied, “Yes, Sir, it is I, my apologies, I do not feel well today.”

“I hope you are resting in bed at this moment,” Boris asked.

“Yes, sadly,” Udo said and coughed.

“Stay there, I shall come to you,” Boris stated and hung up.

Hank started to say something and Boris placed a finger on his lips, “Do not speak and tax your throat. I believe Udo is also ill. You rest now, I shall return in a short while. I will see to Udo as well. Sleep, please, my beloved One, ja?”

Hank nodded and closed his eyes. Boris had already dressed for the day when he woke Hank, so Boris left their Apartment immediately, closed the door quietly behind him, and walked with a quick long stride to Udo’s Apartment.

Along the way, Boris asked the first staff member he met, who was Simone, the Housekeeper, “Yes, Master?”

“Would you be so kind as to locate some throat lozenges for me? I will be in Udo’s Apartment,” Boris asked with a serious tone of voice.

“Right away, Sir,” And off she went.

Udo had stayed in bed as Boris had instructed; Boris sat on Udo’s bedside and looked at him with concern, “Tell me how you feel, Udo.” Udo looked more pale than he usually was.

“Weary, my body aches and I feel chilled and warm at the same time,” Udo stated.

“May I take your temperature?” Boris asked politely.

“Yes, please, Sir, I am sorry…” Udo started to say and Boris interrupted him.

“Do not speak right now and you do not need to apologize for becoming ill,” Boris said as he used the temperature gauge on Udo. As Boris read the display the temperature changed from 99 to 100 degrees.

“Ja, you have a fever. Here,” Boris said as he noticed a glass of water on Udo’s bedside, and then took the ibuprofen bottle out of his suit jacket pocket and poured out one tablet, “Take this, it may help with your fever.”

Udo took the tablet and an extra drink of water and placed the glass back on the nightstand and placed his head back on his pillow.

Boris stood up and went into Udo’s bath room to get a wet a cloth as he had done for Hank and returned to place the cloth on Udo’s head, “Does your throat hurt, Udo?”

“No, Sir, not right now,” Udo said quietly.

“All right, you rest here, sleep if you can, I will check on you in a short while. Please do not get out of bed. I will also bring you some lunch; I shall ask Chef to make soup for us today,” Boris said as he thought that Hank should also have some soup.

Udo started to say something, but Boris looked at him with an expression that Udo knew he wanted silence.

“Rest, sleep, I shall return, that is all that needs to happen, ja?” Boris said, not requiring an answer only an agreement.

Udo nodded his head and before he closed his eyes, Boris smiled slightly at Udo with a kind and caring expression. Boris touched Udo on the shoulder and left Udo’s Apartment, closing the door silently.

As Boris walked away from the door, Simone came to him and handed him a box of lozenges. “Excellent,” Boris said, “Thank you, Simone.”

Simone bowed and turned down another corridor. 

As Boris walked to the Kitchen, he dialed Khalil. “Khalil, good morning, ja, both Udo and Hank are ill today…I believe they have the influenza…and they both have fevers. If anything requires either of their attention, I should like to have someone else to handle it or it be postponed until they are well again. Ja, I will take care of them, please handle the remaining needs of the household today for Udo. Thank you…no, I am fine…call me if you need anything.”

Boris entered the Kitchen and was greeted warmly by Sous Chefs Mack and Viv. “Good morning, Chefs, unfortunately, both Hank and Udo are ill today and I should like to request, er,” Boris thought a moment, “Chicken soup be made for lunch today for both of them…with vegetables, that is also healthy, I think.”

“Of course, Sir; but what about breakfast?” Sous Chef Mack asked as that was what they had prepared when Boris entered the Kitchen.

“Ah, yes, I forgot about breakfast. Hmmm, no, I think they are both sleeping right now, nor will they be hungry until lunch time,” Boris replied.

Sous Chef Viv asked, “Pardon me, Sir, what about YOUR breakfast? Your coffee service and breakfast is ready.”

“Oh, my breakfast, I see…” Boris forgot about his breakfast and wasn’t very hungry at the moment, but he always welcomed coffee. He knew that if he didn’t eat, Hank would become upset and Boris didn’t want that to happen. He also needed to take his medication with breakfast and remembered that he left his medication in their Apartment, “Have the breakfast brought to our Apartment and I shall take my meal there. Thank you.”

“Immediately, Sir,” Mack said as Boris turned and walked out of the Kitchen.

 

Boris stood by Hank’s bed side as he watched Hank sleep. There was a gentle knock on their Apartment door and Boris turned, walked and opened the door. Marie was there with the cart and Boris motioned to her to bring it over to the seating area. She smiled at Boris and bowed slightly; he nodded and closed the door behind her after she left room.

He quickly poured a cup of coffee for himself, took a long sip and sighed. Boris had retrieved his medications and took them quickly with a sip of orange juice. He peeked under the cover of the dish and saw a hardboiled egg, three thin slices of brie cheese, strawberry halves and a croissant lightly glazed with orange marmalade. Boris said, “Huh,” as he was suddenly hungry. Boris picked up his coffee, took another few sips as he walked back to Hank’s bedside, saw that Hank was still sleeping and then decided to sit and eat his breakfast.

 

Several hours had passed and Boris walked back and forth between their Apartment and Udo’s. Word had gotten out that both Hank and Udo were ill and many offers of assistance were made to Boris, which he politely declined and said that he would seek staff out if they were needed beyond their daily tasks. Boris made sure that both men had plenty of water and orange juice by their bedsides and as they both had high fevers and were very weak, both of them slept for several hours. 

After wakening, Hank was somewhat worse in that his throat was quite inflamed now and so he just stopped speaking, it was too painful; the lozenges helped some but he got tired of the imitation cherry flavor quickly.

When Udo awoke, he would start to move from his pillow and Boris would look at him and say, “No, stay there.”

On one trip back to Udo’s Apartment from their Apartment, just before lunch, Boris called Nurse Joanne at Hamptons Heritage. He had to leave a message on her cell phone and all he said was, “Good morning, Joanne, please call me at your earliest convenience.”

Boris stopped again in the Kitchen and had the Chefs arrange the service cart to Boris’ specifications. He wanted to push the cart himself with both of their soup lunches on it; he would travel first to Udo as he was closer to the Kitchen. Boris would set up Udo with his lunch and see to his needs, then take the cart to deliver Hank his lunch and do the same.

After he took care of Udo and his lunch, Boris pushed the cart down the corridors and still declined assistance offers from the staff. His cell phone rang; “Hello Joanne, thank you for calling…” Boris explained their situation and Joanne confirmed that what he was doing was all that could be done. To have both of the men rest, take fluids and the fever reducer, was perfect care. Joanne thought that the soup was also a good idea and suggested for Hank, tea with lemon and honey.

“Only time, sleep, and care will ease their discomfort, Sir,” Nurse Joanne said calmly, “Don’t double up on the ibuprofen. Now, if their fevers don’t go down by lunch time tomorrow, then we have other issues and then call me or the hospital right away. I’m sorry that I can’t get away from the hospital right now, but I will come when I can, okay?”

“Thank you, Joanne, I appreciate your guidance,” Boris said.

 

Boris rolled the cart to their Apartment and set up Hank with his soup lunch. Hank put a hand to his neck and nodded as he tried to indicate that the soup felt wonderful on his throat and smiled slightly.

Back at Udo’s Apartment and after settling Udo back down for another rest in bed, and (Boris hoped) sleep; he returned and did the same thing for Hank. Hank fell asleep right away.

Khalil stopped by their Apartment and spoke with Boris briefly; they stood out in the hall and talked quietly; all was well in the house and nothing needed his or Hank’s or Udo’s attention that day. After Khalil walked away pushing the cart to deliver back to the Kitchen, Boris called Divya and had to leave a message. Boris then called Jeremiah and had to also leave a message. Then, Boris thought a moment and made another call.

“Good afternoon, Evan…yes, it is Boris,” Boris rolled his eyes, “I am fine Evan, thank you…” he interrupted Evan, “…Are both Divya and Jeremiah engaged with patients? No, Evan, not engaged engaged,” Boris grimaced and shook his head, “I mean are they seeing other patients at the moment? Oh, I see, all right then…” Boris paused as he struggled with how he imagined Evan would react to hearing that Hank was ill and with involving a doctor that Boris didn’t know. Boris’ ultra-private nature was always under the surface. 

Boris looked briefly in the Apartment at Hank asleep on their bed, he held the phone away from his ear because Evan was rambling on about something, and Boris thought about what Joanne had said and that she didn’t appear to be overly worried about either Udo’s or Hank’s conditions; he put the phone back to his ear, interrupted Evan again and said, “Well, if you hear from them, please have them call me, ja? And…pardon me?...of course, I shall hello to Hank for you…how is he? Er, Hank is feeling a little under the weather today…what? You are warning me that Hank gets cranky when he is sick? What is cranky…er, never mind. All right then, I will watch for that…Thank you, Evan…no, that is all for now... yes, Good bye, Evan.”

Boris put his hand to his forehead and thought, ‘That young man makes my head ache.’

After Boris checked on both men once more and found they were both asleep, he felt a little relieved and then looked at his watch. He went to the Kitchen to ask for some coffee. Chef Henri asked Boris if he wanted his lunch now. Boris had forgotten to eat lunch. He declined Chef’s offer and just asked for coffee and some sort of pastry and that he would take it in the Parlor Dining Room. That dining room was exactly center between the Apartments and he felt that if he needed to, he could get to either Udo or Hank quickly.

Boris drank his coffee and ate only half of the pastry, he really wasn’t hungry and he kept looking at the chair that Hank always sat in when they dined in that room. Both Divya and Jeremiah, individually, returned Boris’ phone calls while he drank his coffee. After he described what was going on, they both told him there was nothing more he could do; they suggested each to receive another ibuprofen with their dinners and keep up with fluids and the rest and that their fevers might break during the night. Both of them asked if he was okay and he replied to both of them that he was fine - which is what they expected him to say even though they knew he probably wasn’t completely fine.

As the afternoon progressed and into the early evening, Boris continued to visit both men and made sure that they were comfortable. Udo’s temperature dropped from 100 to 99, but Hank’s temperature went up to 102. 

The dinners he delivered were a different kind of soup and he also made sure that they took another pill and drank water. Udo looked better after his dinner, but Boris forbade him to leave his Apartment and do anything but continue to rest. Boris told Udo that he would check on him later in the evening and made sure he had his cell phone on the night stand and fully charged and ready to call for help.

Hank’s voice was completely gone and he took to communicating with Boris by writing on a pad of paper. Boris sat by Hank on the edge of the bed and tried to look calm, even though inside, Boris was worried; Hank’s fever was very high, his voice was gone, and he was pale and Hank said his body ached all over. 

Hank wrote: Even my eyelids hurt.

“Your brother says hello and warned me that you become ‘cranky’ when you become ill,” Boris stated.

Hank wrote: I do not become cranky.

“What is ‘cranky’?” Boris asked and then said, “Never mind, I have decided that you are not whatever that is.”

Hank smiled weakly and wrote: Cranky is like an angry, fussy baby.

Boris blinked, tilted his head and widened his eyes as he looked at Hank and said, “As I said, you are not that.”

Later on, there were three knocks on the Apartment door, and Boris knew it was Khalil; he opened the door and Khalil escorted both Jeremiah and Divya into the room. Boris thanked them for coming and they went immediately over to Hank, who waved to them and wrote ‘nice to see you’ on the pad of paper. Boris stood back and let them check Hank. They learned that he had eaten dinner and had taken another pill; Divya took Hank’s temperature again, the screen read 101.5. Everyone smiled widely, except for Boris who had a wary expression on his face and a tight smile.

Divya and Jeremiah told Hank and Boris that Hank would be fine; just a little more time was needed to allow Hank’s body and the medication to fight the fever down. Boris asked permission from Hank that they leave him to check on Udo and Hank nodded enthusiastically.

The three of them walked the corridors to Udo’s Apartment; Jeremiah watched Boris to make sure that he was all right; Jeremiah and Divya exchanged glances. 

Divya asked, “How are you doing, Boris? This must have been a very busy day for you taking care of both of them.”

“Yes, I am fine, thank you, er, I have certainly done my exercise today,” Boris said calmly and with a slight smile.

Boris politely knocked on Udo’s door and entered it; he asked Udo if Jeremiah and Divya could check on him and Udo graciously accepted the consideration. They pronounced Udo on the mend and instructed him to rest for the remainder of the night and for all of the next day. Udo started to decline that and Boris gently said, “Udo, please take care.” To which Udo bowed his head slightly and thanked them all.

 

As they walked the corridors once again, Boris escorted them to the Foyer and sincerely said, “Thank you for coming to attend them and at so late of an hour. I was not certain if I was doing all that I could be doing to help them. They were both so uncomfortable; the fevers…are so high.”

Ty the Houseman assisted Divya and Jeremiah with their coats, scarves and gloves.

Jeremiah assured Boris, “You did fine, and I would like to suggest that you make sure that you tend to your needs as well. Good night, Boris.”

“I shall, thank you both, good night,” Boris said gratefully.

“We will call you tomorrow to check on all of you, good night Boris, please sleep well,” Divya said with a positive tone to her voice and a comforting smile.

Boris stood in the empty Foyer for a moment after he had closed and secured the entry door and nodded thank you to Ty, and released him from his duty. As Ty left, Boris looked up at their portrait and stared at Hank’s image for a few moments, as he wished for Hank’s fever to drop; Boris was not at all comfortable with the 101.5 temperature. Boris looked at his watch and saw that it was 10:30 p.m. and then realized that he had not eaten dinner. He remembered one trip between the Apartments where Server Angela has followed him and asked where he wanted his dinner. Boris realized that he never answered her.

Boris walked to the Kitchen and found it empty and dark. He turned on a few lights and went into the walk-in refrigerator and located a small piece of Vermont cheddar cheese and chose a small Honeycrisp apple. He found some French bread in the pantry and took one slice. Boris wasn’t truly hungry but ate the food because he knew Hank would ask him if he did. Boris just sat at the kitchen island alone and quickly ate the meager portions he had gathered and found a small glass in the cupboard which he filled with some cold tea to drink. After he cleaned up, which even if he didn’t clean up no one would have found evidence that he had been in the Kitchen anyway, he turned off the lights and walked back to check on Udo. 

Udo was sound asleep and tucked into his bed as they had left him. Boris gently touched Udo’s hand which was on top of the covers and Boris thought that Udo didn’t feel as warm as he did earlier in the day. Boris hoped that Udo was moving back towards health and that he would check on him in the middle of the night. Boris felt sad that Udo had been stricken by this illness and thought that a gentle soul such as Udo should never, ever have to suffer.

The house was quiet, it was late, and Boris assumed that everyone was off shift, except for security, as Boris walked the corridors back to their Apartment. He entered quietly and hoped that Hank was asleep, but Hank was awake and in bed as he waited for Boris. Boris saw this and came into the room quickly, closed the door and walked to Hank’s bedside. Boris asked, “Why are you awake, my beloved One?”

Hank’s voice was still trapped and he wrote quickly on the pad of paper: I was waiting for you.

“You need your sleep, your fever is still too high,” Boris said.

Hank wrote: Is Udo okay?

Boris said, “He will be, his fever has dropped a bit, and he is sleeping at the moment.”

Hank wrote and wore the ‘Tell Me’ expression: Good. Did you eat?

Boris smiled slightly, “A little, but I did. What may I do for you, my beloved One?”

Hank wrote: Another glass of water, please; and you, lying here next to me.

“It would be my pleasure,” Boris replied.

Boris brought Hank another glass of water; Boris flinched slightly when their fingers touched as he handed Hank the glass of water, “You still…feel so feverish to me. May I take your temperature?”

Hank nodded his head and drank half of the glass of water, grimacing as the water went down his throat.

Boris took Hank’s temperature and it still read 101.5. Boris did not look happy at all; their eyes met.

Hank wrote: I’ll be fine. I’m going to go to the bath room now.

As Hank moved to get out of bed, he swayed a little and Boris caught him, holding Hank firmly against himself. Boris said, “Good lord, Hank, you are practically on fire.”

Hank looked up at Boris and shook his head; Hank looked tired and was still pale with a sheen of sweat on his skin, but he smiled just a bit.

Boris held Hank as they walked to the bath room; Hank held out his hand at Boris’ heart and motioned that he was all right to be on his own from there.

Boris’ expression was all concern and he waited by the doorway. Hank finished what he needed to do and walked back towards Boris and held onto as many things as he could along the way. Just as Hank got to the doorway, his strength gave out and he crumpled into Boris arms. Boris caught him easily; and picked up Hank in a fireman’s carry and brought Hank to their bed. Boris gently eased Hank down to the bed, he held and supported Hank’s body with his hands and arms, and then situated Hank under the covers and on his pillow.

“Are you comfortable?” Boris asked quietly.

Hank nodded his head and smiled slightly, but his eyes were bleary.

“I am going to change into bed clothes, I shall return,” Boris said.

Hank nodded again and watched Boris go into the Closet Room.

Boris was fast to change but when he returned to their bedroom, Hank had fallen asleep. Boris sighed with relief.

After he quickly took care of himself in the bath room, Boris turned off all of the lights in their Apartment except for the lamp on Hank’s night stand – that light stayed on always. Boris refreshed Hank’s glass of water and then climbed into bed. Boris still thought that Hank felt like he was on fire and but told himself there was nothing more he could for Hank. Only sleep would help now…


	18. Rejoice, Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The winter illnesses are turning around and for the better, much to everyone’s delight...

Boris awoke at two o’clock and checked on Hank; Boris thought he was imaging things because Hank didn’t feel as warm as he did earlier. Boris got out of bed, put on his dressing gown and slippers and made his way to Udo’s Apartment to check on Udo.

Udo still slept; he had changed positions and to Boris, when he touched Udo’s hand, also didn’t feel as warm as before, so Boris hoped that Udo’s fever had truly broken. Boris wished he wasn’t so tired and that he had remembered to bring the temperature gauge with him at that moment just to be certain. Boris left Udo to sleep and walked back to their Apartment.

Hank was soundly asleep and Boris was able to use the gauge on Hank and it didn’t wake him; much to Boris’s surprise, Hank’s temperature had dropped to 99.7. Boris sat there for a while at the edge of the bed as he watched Hank and noticed that his sleeping shirt was damp as he had sweated from the high fever. The pillow case behind Hank’s head was damp as well and Boris wondered if he should try and do something about the pillow case and Hank’s shirt. 

Boris didn’t feel as if he wanted to sleep, but knew he should at some point. Boris got up and prepared another damp cloth to place on Hank’s forehead and idly wondered how many times he had done that and whether or not it helped. As he placed the cloth on Hank’s forehead, Hank started and awoke; Boris held his breath and thought of three different curse words, in two languages, as he chided himself for his action, “I am truly sorry, my beloved One, for waking you.”

Hank’s eyes focused on Boris and he smiled slightly, he shook his head and mouthed the words ‘It’s okay.' Hank touched the cloth on his forehead and nodded.

“Your fever appears to be diminishing as your temperature is now 99.7,” Boris said.

Hank smiled and they looked at each other; Hank pointed a finger at Boris and shrugged his shoulders as if to ask Boris how he was doing.

“I am fine; eh…” Boris said.

Hank placed a warm hand on Boris’ chest at his heart and he had the expression of: ‘What is it? Tell me’.

“I slept, a little, but I do not want to sleep now. I only want to watch out for you,” Boris said quietly.

Hank shook his head.

“I know…do you wish to sleep? Or, perhaps, I can make us both some tea. Nurse Joanne said that tea with lemon and honey would be good for you,” Boris suggested.

Hank looked into Boris’ eyes for a moment and thought about how he should respond; he could sense that Boris wanted to do this instead of go back to sleep, and then nodded his head as he mimicked drinking tea, he smiled slightly.

Boris smiled somewhat as he was pleased that Hank accepted his tea idea; Boris reached up and turned the cloth over on Hank’s forehead, leaned in and kissed Hank on his bearded cheek, “I shall return quickly with our tea, stay here and there is water on the nightstand if you need it.”

Boris left quickly, and kept their door slightly open; he walked with speed down the corridor to the Kitchen and prepared a pot of hot water. He found a tray, cups, spoons, a couple of wedges of fresh lemon and honey, but stopped when he saw that there were a dozen different kinds of tea, in tea bags, to choose from. Boris wasn’t sure which tea was best for Hank, or what tea Hank would prefer in his condition. Boris didn’t want to acknowledge to himself that he really was tired and that was making the tea bag decision more difficult; he simply couldn’t remember what type of tea that Hank preferred, and to Boris, Hank seemed to just drink any kind of tea that was put in front of him, which was unlike he and Udo who drank only specific kinds of tea; after a moment, he simply took one bag of every tea and put it on the tray.

As Boris entered their Apartment, he saw Hank sitting up in bed as he used the cloth to wipe his face. Boris smiled slightly at Hank and set the tray on a corner of the bed. Hank looked at the tray with the teapot, cups, and other things and the dozen tea bags strewn about the tray. Hank’s eyebrows went up. Boris looked at Hank with shyness and then said, “I did not know what tea you would need or want, so I brought one of everything.”

Hank smiled as he looked back up at Boris and waved for Boris to come towards him. Boris did so and bent over to be closer to Hank as Hank reached up and put his left hand on the back of Boris’ neck; Hank tried to whisper in Boris’ ear, ‘I love you, Boris’ but found that he couldn’t; Boris pulled back slightly and Hank mouthed to words and then swallowed hard and tried not to grimace because of the pain in his throat.

“I love you back, Hank,” Boris said, “I shall make your tea now.”

They sat there on the bed and each sipped on their cup of hot tea. Boris seemed to enjoy his favored Earl Grey tea as his face became a little more relaxed and said, “This is nice, Hank, does this help your throat?”

Hank took a sip of his English breakfast tea and by the expression on his face, it was apparent that it did. Hank pointed to the honey.

“Oh, you wish to have more honey?” Boris asked and then set his cup down, took Hank’s cup, added more honey, stirred it and gave the cup back to Hank.

Boris placed his hand on Hank’s forehead and his eyebrows went up slightly, “You do not feel as warm now, perhaps your fever has broken.”

Hank smiled and continued to sip on his tea.

Boris finished his tea and set the cup on the tray which he then picked up the tray and moved it to a side table. He went back to sit on the edge of the bed next to Hank and placed his hand on the blanket on Hank’s thigh. Boris reached over to pick up the temperature gauge from Hank’s night stand, “May I?”

Hank nodded and Boris took Hank’s temperature and the gauge read 99.5, “Improvement,” Boris said quietly.

Hank finished his tea and handed his cup to Boris, who set it on the tray. Hank patted the area of the bed next to him as he looked at Boris and smiled slightly.

Boris smiled slightly, removed his dressing gown and slippers, climbed into bed, and settled the two of them so that Boris held Hank and Hank has his head on Boris’ shoulder. Tucked in with blankets draped over them now, Boris said, “I hope that you can sleep now, my beloved One.” 

Boris tilted his head slightly and saw that Hank had already fallen asleep.

 

At dawn, Boris awoke and was relieved to feel that Hank was asleep by his side and not as feverish any longer. They had not moved much from the position that they had fallen asleep in. Boris held Hank’s head gently, moved it from his shoulder and laid it softly on the pillow, as Boris moved to sit up and he turned to watch Hank for a few moments as he thought about Hank’s and Udo’s illnesses.

Boris eased out of bed and put on his dressing gown and slippers and left the Apartment quietly to go and check on Udo. He stopped by the Kitchen first and found Sous Chef Viv there as she prepared breads and such for the day; she looked up at him in surprise for a moment, and exclaimed a small “Oh!” as she did so, and then quickly looked back down at what she was doing to try and compose herself.

“What is the problem, Chef?” Boris asked flatly as he was tired and wasn’t really in the mood for anything at the moment that would require thought, effort or even consideration.

“My apologies, Master, I wasn’t expecting you and…” Viv said embarrassed.

“And…” Boris had become annoyed and expected an answer.

“Your hair, Sir…” She said meekly and her voice trailed off.

“Der’mo!” (which meant ‘crap!’ in Russian) said Boris loudly and with force (as that is how one swears properly in Russian) and he quickly ran his hands through his silver mane.

Boris took a deep breath and leveled his gaze at Viv, who visibly withered under it, and said that he wanted to take a tray with hot tea to Udo; Chef Viv assisted him very quickly and was very efficient but did not meet his eyes again. Boris soon left the kitchen with the loaded tray – he had decided to also bring things that could be breakfast-like for Udo – as Boris knew Udo rose early and assumed he would do so that morning and possibly be hungry. Boris thought that this would keep Udo in his Apartment and suggest that he continue to rest in his Apartment. 

After Boris left, Viv’s shoulders fell, she closed her eyes and shook her head and decided that today wasn’t going to be such a good day after all; she then returned to her baking. She decided to bury herself in her work that day and not say much.

Outside of Udo’s door, Boris placed the tray on the floor, opened the door, picked up the tray and entered. He found Udo still asleep, which pleased Boris, and so he quietly set the tray on the table in the seating area of Udo’s Apartment. Boris looked at Udo fondly once more before he left the room, closed the door silently and then headed back to their Apartment.

Boris returned to their Apartment and as he closed the door, Hank slowly walked out of the bath room. Boris went quickly over to Hank and they embraced and held the embrace for many moments. Boris said softly, “Let us get you back to bed, ja? You still need a good deal of rest,” Boris held and guided Hank back and made him comfortable under the covers. 

Hank wrote on the pad of paper: Is Udo okay?

“He still sleeps; I brought him a tray of tea and some breakfast foods,” Boris said.

Hank remembered the dozen tea bags that Boris had brought to him and wrote: How much tea did you bring Udo? 

And Hank acted like he was laughing – which he was inside.

“Very funny, Hank; I brought only ONE kind of tea as I know that Udo ONLY drinks jasmine green tea,” Boris said defensively, “You must be feeling better as your humor is showing once again.”

Hank looked down at his lap to play act in surprise as if he wasn’t wearing any pants, looked up again and smiled widely.

Boris tried very hard to not smile and failed; he even chuckled as he looked at Hank who smiled back at him.

 

As the day moved on, and the two men’s fevers disappeared, Boris had to work harder to get them to stay in their Apartments and rest. Both Udo and Hank wanted to get up and move about and simply do things; they certainly began to feel much better than the day before. Boris spent the day walking back and forth as he checked on both them as well as that he brought Hank his breakfast and lunches for both of them. Hank’s voice was still gone and so he continued to write on the pad of paper.

 

Boris stood in the Kitchen as he waited for the Chefs to put the final touches on Udo’s and Hank’s lunches. He stood tall and straight with his arms crossed in front of his chest, the fingers of one hand smoothing his silver circle beard as he stared into the glass window of one of the deck ovens seemingly to watch something bake. Boris actually stood there because it was very warm and that felt good to him and he was deep in thought.

All three Chefs were somewhat nervous about Boris being there as he waited. Earlier, Henri and Mack finally had to ask Viv why she was so unhappy that morning and she admitted to them what happened earlier between her and Boris. 

“Chef Viv!” Boris said loudly so that he could be heard above the exhaust fans that were always on when the kitchen was in work mode, and especially from where Boris was standing which was near most of the heat-generating equipment.

Viv jumped and dropped the dough cutter she was using. It landed with a hard sound on the stone floor. No one moved, and Viv’s eyes filled with tears.

Boris had in that moment walked over to where Viv was working and bent to retrieve the dough cutter from the floor. He stood up and towered over Viv as she was only five foot six to Boris’ six foot, perfect-posture height. Boris stood next to her, looked down at her, took his hand and gently moved her hand to take the dough cutter from his other hand. She removed the implement slowly from Boris’ hand. 

Boris asked gently, “Would you please look at me, Chef Viv?”

Viv nodded, blinked the tears back, and did as he asked.

Boris searched her light brown eyes, tilted his head, softened his expression as he could tell she was fearful of him, then said gently, “I sincerely apologize to have been so harsh with you this morning, Chef Viv. It was excessively and improperly rude of me to swear in your presence; I was weary and impatient. Eh, but it matters not why I acted so poorly, I promise that I shall be more civilized next time.”

Viv blinked again and said, “Thank you, Sir, uh, I apologize for my bad manners.”

Boris looked away for a moment and then back directly at Viv, “Hank said something once, what was it…ah… ja, are we good? Eh, you and I?” Boris used his open right hand as he moved it at her and then at him indicating the two of them, he did this twice.

“Oh, yes, Sir, we are good,” Viv put on a brave smile with relief flooding her mind as she looked up at Boris and blinked.

Henri and Mack sighed with relief, but did not show it.

“What are you making here?” Boris asked politely as he looked down at her work table.

“This will become cinnamon sugar cookies for Dr. Hank, and they should be ready by this afternoon,” Viv said as she started to recover from the trauma of her day.

“Excellent, that will certainly brighten his day, thank you, Chef. Is…there anything which I may do for you?” Boris asked graciously.

“Oh, no, Sir, we’re good, I mean, it’s all good now,” Viv said, as she nodded, visibly relieved that she hadn’t destroyed anything or was looked upon by Boris as being worthless. (Which was what in her mind her actions had done and no one at Shadow Pond ever wanted to be worthless in Boris’ eyes.)

Boris placed his hand on Viv’s shoulder and patted it gently; he smiled slightly at her and she smiled slightly back at him.

“Excuse me, Master;” said Chef Mack, “Mr. Udo’s and Dr. Hank’s lunches are ready now.”

“Thank you, Chef Mack!” Boris said and he nodded to each one of them; his gaze lingered a bit longer with Chef Viv and they both smiled slightly at each other, and then he pushed the cart out of the Kitchen.

Henri and Mack came quickly over to Viv after Boris had left, placed their hands on her shoulders, and they all smiled at each other. Viv sighed with relief. Chef Henri said in a comforting tone of voice with his thick French accent, “I told you that the Master is not heartless; non, non, non, he was simply tired and very worried about Monsieur Udo and Docteur Hank. He cares for them both a great deal, oui? I know, I know, Viv, his grey eyes can be as hard and as cold as this table, but HE is not hard and cold, non, non, non,” As he tapped the stainless steel work table.

 

Boris received friendly calls from both Divya and Jeremiah, individually, and they asked how Udo and Hank were. They also asked about how Boris was doing and although Boris was gracious in his responses, he wondered why they were also concerned about him. He wasn’t the one who was ill. He had to remind himself again that he ‘wasn’t alone any longer’ and that he was surrounded by people, outside of their staff who truly cared about his well-being. Boris felt odd about all of that.

 

As he was most of the way down the corridor with the cart to return it to the Kitchen, Marie met him, begged his pardon and asked to take the cart to the kitchen for him. He stopped and thought for a moment and agreed to allow her to assist. Marie asked, “Sir, where may I serve you your lunch at this time?”

Boris looked at Marie and tensed his lips a moment as he then remembered that he hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch, or taken his medication. He had simply been too busy taking care of Udo and Hank and had walked back and forth between the Apartments many times during the morning and early afternoon. “Huh,” he said, more to himself than Marie, “This will not do…” And he thought about that when Hank discovered this, Hank would be upset with him.

“Sir?” Marie asked politely.

“Ja, my lunch, well,” Boris replied, “Would you be so kind as to bring me my lunch to our Apartment? I should like to have a small salad and a small piece of cold, baked chicken.”

“Very good, Sir, right away,” Marie said, she bowed slightly and left with the cart.

Boris stood there in the middle of the corridor and sighed. He resigned himself to receive a scolding from Hank, turned and went back to their Apartment.

As Boris opened the door, he found Hank on the other side of the door just as Hank reached for the doorknob. 

(Hank had planned to look down the corridor first to see if Boris was returning to their Apartment before he texted Boris.) Hank stood there in his rumpled, sweat-stained sleep shirt and pants – which hung low on his hips as he usually wore them, his robe hanging open with its belt trailing behind him, his hair and beard a mess and he was barefooted. Hank had the pad of paper and the pen in his hand. They smiled warmly at each other and as Boris started to say something, Hank interrupted him by holding up the pad of paper directly in front of Boris’ face.

Hank had written (in big letters): DID YOU EAT?

Boris jolted back slightly so that the pad didn’t hit his nose, tensed his lips and looked downward as he continued into the Apartment and closed the door.

Hank took a few steps backward and shook the pad which he still held in front of Boris’ face. Hank’s eyes were bright blue and he had an expectant expression his face.

Boris took a hand and lowered the pad so that he could see Hank’s face, sighed and said, “Not yet.”

Hank quickly drew an angry face below the letters with hair that stood straight up from the top of the image’s head and steam coming out of what would be the image’s ears and showed it to Boris. Hank also wrote: And I’m not saying that your hair is messed up.

“Ja, I know, I am sorry, I just now remembered this. Marie will be bringing my lunch here very soon. Should you not be in bed, my beloved One?” Boris said sincerely.

Hank shook his head and pointed to the seating area. Boris looked in that direction and was pleased to see that the curtains and sheers were open and it was bright and somewhat sunny in their Apartment.

“Please be seated and I shall join you in a moment,” Boris said as he thought that if he could get a glass of water and go to the Bath Room to gather and take his medication without Hank seeing him, he would then be free of that particular scolding. Boris turned away, left Hank to stand there, went to the water table, filled a glass half full of water and then went into the Bath Room.

Hank watched Boris, shook his head, then went and sat down in his chair in the seating area and began to write on the pad of paper.

After a moment, Boris came back to the seating area and put a hand on Hank’s shoulder as he looked down at Hank and smiled; Hank held up the pad of paper and Hank was not smiling.

Hank wrote: You JUST took your meds right now, didn’t you? That means you probably DIDN’T eat breakfast and lunch, right? It’s two in the afternoon!

Boris sighed deeply and went over to sit in his chair; he looked at Hank with a chagrined expression and replied, “Ja, I shall admit to this. In my defense, I was busy taking care of you and Udo.” 

Hank wrote: No excuses.

“Please do not be angry with me, Hank. This is the first time that I have attempted to care for two people at the same time and you are both on opposite ends of this house...and I am not a medical professional,” Boris said honestly and with a sad expression on his face.

Hank shook his head quickly, wrote on the pad and showed it to Boris: I’m not really angry, just really concerned. You know how I am about this.

The two men looked at each other and then there was a soft series of knocks on the door.

Boris got up, went to and opened the door to find Marie with the cart on the other side, “Thank you, Marie, please bring it to the seating area.”

Marie did so and smiled at Hank, bowed slightly and set the cart to the side, “Chef has sent along some other items for you, too, Dr. Hank, even though he knows that you ate lunch already.” 

Hank wrote: Thanks, Marie! Tell Chef thanks, too!

“Please have a pleasant afternoon, Sirs,” Marie said with a smile, bowed slightly and left closing the door behind her.

Hank wrote (again in big letters): EAT NOW, HUSBAND.

“What? No exclamation point?” Boris asked innocently.

Hank quickly added three exclamation points after the word ‘husband’ and again showed the pad to Boris.

“Ja, now that is more like it. If you are going to scold me, Hank, please be proper and thorough about it,” Boris said with a more lighthearted tone.

Boris set in to eating his salad and chicken lunch and seemed pleased with it. 

Hank discovered that there were cinnamon sugar cookies and a tall glass of milk on the cart for him. He was so excited that he momentarily forgot he couldn’t speak and tried to say, “Yes!” but it came out of his mouth sounding more like, “Yack!”

Boris almost choked on his bite of food, swallowed hard and took a drink of tea. He looked at Hank with a completely amused expression and began to laugh out loud. 

That, of course, made Hank laugh and the gurgling sound that erupted from his throat made them both hysterical.

After a few moments, both of the men were somewhat red-faced and had to concentrate to catch their breaths. 

Finally, as his breathing slowed, Boris said, “Thank you, Hank, that was delightful! You can scold me like that more often, if you wish,” He paused, “I miss your wonderful voice, my beloved One; when will it return?”

Hank wrote: Probably in a few days. (But Hank knew it could be as long as two weeks.)

Boris wasn’t pleased to hear this and it showed on his face. He then picked at his lunch and only ate a few bites. Hank watched him as he ate a cookie and took a drink of the milk.

Hank wrote and showed Boris the pad: I don’t have a fever any more.

“That is the best news I have heard all day, thank you,” Boris said as he picked at his lunch and did not enjoy the silence.

Hank wrote: Would you please eat your lunch?

Just then, there were three firm knocks on their door; they both looked at each other and wondered why Khalil was there. Boris rose from his seat and walked to the door, opened it, waved Khalil into the room; as they walked over to the seating area, Boris said, “Good afternoon, Khalil, is everything all right?”

“Yes, Sir. Hello, Dr. Hank, I hope you are feeling better,” Khalil said; he had come to visit them himself because he felt badly for Dr. Hank.

Hank nodded his head and smiled.

Boris said, “Ja, Hank’s fever had gone, finally, but his voice is not functioning,” Boris said.

“I am sorry to hear that, Doctor. My apologies for interrupting your lunch, Sir; I’ve come to say that Nurse Joanne called and will come and visit both Dr. Hank and Mr. Udo and that she should be here,” Khalil checked his wrist watch, “Within the hour.”

“Splendid, Khalil, thank you; would you have her escorted here?” Boris asked. He wanted Joanne to check Hank first and then they would go to check on Udo immediately afterwards. Boris saw an expression on Khalil’s face and asked, “Tell me, Khalil…”

Khalil nodded, “Mr. Udo came to my office to check on things,” Khalil admitted.

Hank and Boris looked at each other. Boris sighed and said, “I told him to stay in his Apartment and rest.”

Hank wrote: How does Udo look?

Khalil replied, “He says he feels much better and he does not look ill.”

Hank wrote: Can’t keep a good man like Udo down.

“Please tell Udo that Nurse Joanne shall be arriving soon and that he needs to be resting in his Apartment and that if I find him doing any tasks, I shall be most upset with him,” Boris stated this firmly although Boris had half expected this to happen anyway. Udo was quite driven and if anything, this was normal behavior for him – he must be feeling better. Boris felt relieved at that thought.

Khalil bowed his head and said, “Good afternoon, Sirs,” and then left their Apartment.

Hank wrote: Please finish your lunch, Boris.

Boris sighed, sat down in his chair and did as he was told.

 

Joanne’s visit was like a ray of sunshine for them all – after, of course, she stopped being nervous. She was escorted to their Apartment by Misha, greeted and welcomed in warmly by Boris and Hank, and one could tell that she was nervous about being in the couple’s bedroom; it was her first time there. Boris went into the Closet Room to arrange a change of clothes for Hank and to give them some privacy.

Hank wrote and showed the pad of paper to Joanne: What’s the matter?

Joanne said quietly to Hank, “I’ve never been in your inner sanctum before; I’m sorry to intrude.”

Hank wrote: Don’t worry about that, it’s just a really big bedroom, that’s all; WE are really glad you are here.

“Yeah, but this is REALLY private space for you and Boris…and I know that Boris is, um, protective about his privacy,” Joanne whispered.

Hank smiled at Joanne and pointed to the sentences that he had already written, ‘...don’t worry about that...’ and ‘...WE are really glad you are here...’ to try and put her mind at ease.

“Okay, I’ll try,” replied Joanne.

Hank wrote: What do you sense from this room and from us? Focus on those things.

Joanne smiled as she knew what Hank was trying to do and it worked; she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and expanded her senses outward for a few moments. She opened her eyes quickly, looked at Hank and smiled widely, “Harmony, strength and love.”

Hank smiled at her and wrote: See? It’s all good.

Joanne nodded enthusiastically and then set about to check Hank’s vitals and take a look at his throat.

Boris walked out of the Closet Room and saw Joanne holding a tongue depressor onto Hank’s outstretched tongue. 

Joanne said, “I’m not going to ask you to say ‘ah’ because I know you can’t – those vocal chords of yours are very unhappy.”

Boris stood nearby quietly with his arms crossed in front of his chest as he looked down at them and watched.

Joanne said, “Yeah, you’re not going to be able to talk for a number of days. I’d recommend taking the ibuprofen when you feel pain or swelling in your throat. Warm liquids are better than cold ones, you should try to breathe warm moist air, stay away from caffeine or definitely alcohol, and try not to whisper – that actually makes this condition worse, okay?”

Hank nodded with understanding.

“It appears that we must let this illness run its course then, ja?” Boris asked.

“Yes, that is all that we can do. I’m glad that you don’t have a fever any more, Hank,” Joanne replied as she stood up.

Hank nodded, smiled and pointed to himself.

“Hank, may I take Nurse Joanne over to Udo’s Apartment?” Boris asked.

Hank nodded again and put his hands in a prayer position at his heart, bowing slightly, as if to say ‘thank you’ to Joanne.

Joanne smiled and returned the gesture.

 

Boris and Joanne walked down the corridors to Udo’s Apartment; Boris’ gait was quick and Joanne had to work to keep up with him. Boris said, “Are you well, Joanne?”

“Oh, me? Yeah, I’m fine, thank you for asking. I had to pull some extra shifts at Hamptons Heritage during the last couple of days, they’ve been really busy, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t get here sooner,” Joanne said shyly.

“We understand, please do not worry,” Boris said sincerely.

 

Udo sat in his chair in his Apartment reading the newspaper. Boris knocked and asked politely if they could enter. Udo graciously accepted them as well as Joanne’s ministering. She confirmed that he no longer had a fever; his vital signs were perfect and instructed that Udo should spend the rest of the day and the night resting and only if he felt better in the morning, could he return to his normal pattern of activity. Boris decided not to say anything to Udo about the fact that he knew Udo had been up and about without ‘permission’.

Boris escorted Joanne to the Foyer, she said, “Thank you for letting me come and check on them. I’ve been thinking about them ever since you called me. How are you doing, Boris?” Joanne put on her coat with Boris’ assistance, and then she put on her hat and gloves.

Boris looked at Joanne; she looked at Boris; Boris replied, “We appreciate your time and care, Nurse Joanne. Oh, eh, I am fine, I was worried about them, as you can imagine. I…may have neglected myself a bit, but nothing serious, surely.”

Joanne blinked and looked up deeply into his grey/blue eyes for a moment and said, “I can tell that…you…are doing much better since the situation at Thanksgiving time. I hope you don’t mind me saying this. You’ve had a release and a settling recently,” She smiled, “And that appears to have been really good for you.”

Boris smiled very slightly as he searched her eyes, “Ja, it…has been an interesting time. I am curious, why must healing be so painful?”

“You always ask really good questions, Boris; I guess there always has to be the good with the bad. Maybe it’s the inherent nature of the universe and balancing that is maybe what we are meant to spend our time doing – and it’s not always simple, easy, or painless,” replied Joanne.

Boris nodded and put his hands, palms together at his heart, “Namaste, Nurse Joanne.”

 

~~~

 

Five days later, Boris and Hank had just awakened and were lying in bed together holding one another and had started to plan their day. It was only seven a.m. and grey morning light attempted to show around the curtains into the Apartment. 

Hank’s fever had long since disappeared and he had no other symptoms, but since Hank still couldn’t speak he went through many pads of paper; there was always a pad and a pen within his arm’s reach; and Hank always had a lot to say. Hank felt perfectly fine except he had simply been silenced. Hank could pantomime very well and Boris was adept at reading his needs, often within a mere moment of when Hank started to ask for something. And considering that the two men already communicated well naturally with each other, and knew each other’s habits, the days had settled nicely into a comfortable pattern.

Hank wrote: I wish we could do something different today.

“I understand; I have missed taking our walks outside. I asked Nurse Joanne and she said that the cold dry air outside would be harmful to your throat. I also miss hearing your voice, my beloved One,” Boris said, “And, your laughter.”

Hank wrote: What if we went for a drive? I mean in the Bentley.

“Hmmm, what if we went for a drive to somewhere interesting?” Boris suggested, “We have not been told that we cannot go anywhere, ja?”

Hank wrote: Do you have an idea?

Hank turned and looked at Boris as Boris stared across the room in thought. As he admired Boris’ profile, Hank put the pad and pen down on top of the blankets and away from him, he moved his hand and used his fingers to stroke Boris’ silver hair from his temple, down past his ear (and gently touched his ear) and to the back of his head. Boris slowly closed his eyes and leaned his head slightly into Hank’s movements. Simple gentle touching began as they both relished the moments of connection; light kisses placed in favored places and firm strong hands and arms embraced and supported. Boris turned and moved as he held and moved Hank to lie prone somewhat beneath him; Boris looked down at Hank with great affection and smiled a loving smile. Hank returned the smile and expression. It was quiet in the room and they stayed that way for a few moments, simply enjoying each other’s presence. Both men looked deeply into each other’s eyes.

Boris moved downward and nuzzled Hank’s neck; Boris placed kisses there and said, “I love you, Hank.”

Hank had his eyes closed, smiled widely as he enjoyed the feel of Boris’ lips and warm breath at his neck; Hank stretched his neck a bit to give Boris all of the room he needed, then became caught up in the energy that they shared and said, “I love you , Boris.”

Boris stopped and quickly raised his head from Hank’s neck; Hank took a sharp intake of breath and they looked at each other with surprise.

“You can speak?” Boris said softly and with hope.

Tentatively and a little coarsely, Hank said, “Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“Say it again, please,” Boris asked.

Hank swallowed and said more clearly, “I love you, Boris.”

Boris again buried his face in Hank’s neck, lowered himself onto Hank and held Hank firmly. From Hank’s neck, Boris said, “I love you, Hank” And Boris began to chuckle deeply as he was so very happy at the moment.

Hank smiled widely, held Boris tightly and began to chuckle as well.

After a few moments of this pleasantness, Boris raised his head up, looked at Hank and said, “This is a glorious day, ja? You are completely well once again!”

Hank hesitated and then enthusiastically said, “I’m 100 percent now!”

Boris took his right hand and held the left side of Hank’s face, his thumb stroking Hank’s bearded cheek; he looked at Hank with happy grey/blue eyes and said, “Let us celebrate this, shall we? What would you say to us taking a drive to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan? It is a mere two and one half hour ride away and we can have lunch there at the ‘Café on One’ in the Grand Gallery.”

Hank said, “That sounds terrific, Boris!” Hank had a surprised look on his face.

“Why do you look that way?” Boris asked with a tilt of his head.

“I’m not used to hearing my own voice, I guess; it sounds weird to me…but a good weird!” Hank said with amusement.

Boris laughed deeply and out loud.

 

After the men had dressed, had breakfast, informed Udo of their plans for the day, and waited for the entourage to be assembled, they sat in the Main Living Room in front of the fireplace and drank some hot tea.

Hank was so excited that he could speak that he had to say hello or say something to every staff member that he could. Everyone was very happy that Dr. Hank could talk and laugh again. Boris lovingly reminded Hank not wear out his newly healed vocal chords.

The entourage was then ready, the two black Chevrolet Tahoe SUV’s and the black Bentley Continental GTC made an impressive caravan. Everyone was bundled up with coats, gloves and scarves, including Udo and the five security team members; it was cold and sunny outside and there was snow everywhere. SUV 1 pulled out of the drive, followed by the Bentley and then SUV2 on their way to Manhattan Island and the Museum.

Khalil and Udo, as efficient as usual, made all of the arrangements for the couple from the guarded entry into the Museum to the lunch reservations. The Museum was gracious and willing to provide the best experience for their special guests.

Boris and Hank enjoyed the ride immensely as it was the first time that they had been out of the house in over a week and away from Shadow Pond in almost two months. They both looked out the windows and commented on the scenery.

It took three hours to get from Shadow Pond to the Museum because the entourage met with traffic on the Queensboro Bridge, but the men didn’t mind it all, they were enjoying themselves a great deal. 

Khalil told Boris that he wanted to gain a backstage entrance for them (for security reasons) and Boris desired the opposite as he wanted them to enter through the main entrance “…as everyone else does.” Boris wanted to see the front of the building because he had learned that the movie that he and Hank had watched together ‘Night at the Museum’, had been partially filmed there; but only the front of the enormous pillared building was used in the film and he simply wanted to see it. Boris also thought that Hank might enjoy entering the Museum with him that way.

The three cars pulled up in the special parking area in the front of the building. They were met by three of the museum’s security guards. Anton and Efraim stayed with the vehicles as Boris, Hank, Udo, Khalil, Yussef, Jon Michel and the three museum guards walked up the sprawling stone steps in front of the museum.

As they climbed the stairs, Boris stopped with one foot on one step and another foot on the next step and looked up to admire the columns at the front of the building, Hank stood close beside him; everyone else formed a respectful perimeter around them and waited accordingly.

“What a magnificent building, Hank!” Boris said and his breath created a cloud – it was that cold outside.

“Yeah, this is really great!” Hank replied and his exhale created his own cloud, but what Hank truly thought was great was that they were outside, in the open, with people milling around them as they entered and exited the museum, their security and the museum guards kept a discreet distance and that his husband was very happy at the moment.

“See those curls at the top of the columns, Hank? Those denote that the columns are of Classic Greek Ionic style from eastern Greece although the rest of the entrance is done in more Roman styling…fascinating!” Boris said joyfully as he pointed to the tops of the columns with his cane.

Hank enjoyed watching Boris admire the building and that their security was seen but not seen. Hank did notice the looks from several passers-by and Hank smiled at them. Hank thought that the two of them must have looked quite unusual, as both of them were dressed in their dark-toned wool coats, black leather gloves and dark-toned cashmere scarves and were surrounded by four men dressed entirely in black and three, dark-clothed, museum security officers – who were essentially armed police officers. (Udo always dressed in black like Khalil’s men whenever they went on an excursion and Udo’s ever-present satchel was also black.) (The passers-by, in contrast, wore brightly colored parkas, scarves, hats, boots and mittens.)

“Come, Hank, let us get inside and see the sights,” Boris said enthusiastically as he continued up the steps.

As they got to the entrance doors, Boris motioned for Hank to enter the revolving doors first and Boris pushed the doors forward to move for Hank. Udo smiled to himself as he knew that Boris was most likely the only person on the planet to move a revolving door for someone, similar to opening a regular door for someone.

Once inside, which was much warmer than outside, Boris once again stopped as he looked up at a gigantic, tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur skeleton in the entry foyer of the museum and said, “Hank! The movie we viewed did a marvelous job of recreating this object, ja? I half expect that skeleton to wag its tail as it did on the film...”

Hank laughed and said, “You remember a lot from the movie, don’t you, Boris?” Then, more serious, Hank asked, “Hey, you didn’t get too cold standing outside on the steps, did you?” Hank put his gloves in his coat pockets, opened his coat, removed it and unwound his scarf from around his neck. 

“Nonsense, Hank, I am too pleased with this excursion to feel any cold,” Boris replied cheerfully as he too put his gloves in his coat pockets and only unbuttoned his coat. Boris began to look around from where he stood as he was very curious now of what was further in the building.

Udo then said, “I can hold your coats, Sirs.”

Boris was quite distracted as he looked around and away to the other displays; he stretched his neck to see something better and seemed eager to walk and take in the museum’s offerings, but he still had his coat on, “Here Boris, let’s take your coat off and keep your scarf on,” Hank said as he removed Boris’ coat from his shoulders and gave both coats to Udo, “If you feel a little chilled as we walk through these halls, we’ll put your coat back on…okay?”

“What? Oh, yes, certainly, whatever you say, Hank,” Boris said with a wave of his hand, stopped and then he gently grasped Hank’s upper arm and looked at Hank, “It is amazing for us to be here together, do you not agree? Can we now walk to see what more is inside?” Boris smiled at Hank, as he pointed to the interior of the building with his cane. Boris blinked, looked into Hank’s eyes and said, “Thank you for being the sensible one of the two of us; I am afraid that when I am able to come to a place like this, my level of distraction overwhelms me…er, but in the best way possible.”

Hank smiled as he looked up at Boris, held Boris’ arm and said, “Come on, Boris, we’ve got lots of exploring to do,” Hank relished the joyful expression on Boris’ face and imagined what Boris would have been like as a boy and allowed to explore a museum. Boris had turned his head away in the next moment and they started to walk when Hank’s mind then thought about what Boris had shared with him regarding his strained childhood. Hank had to work hard to keep the sad thoughts from his face as he wondered if Boris had ever been allowed to explore a museum at all in his youth.

They wandered down every single display hall, looked into every case, and read every description out loud to one another. Boris’ latent teacher came out and he expanded on many of the items that they viewed and this provided Hank with quite an education.

Udo and the rest followed at a discreet distance; Udo had a continual slight smile on his face as he knew his Masters were enjoying the excursion immensely.

Inside the halls of the history of Asia, Boris suddenly laughed out loud when he saw the display of Attila, the Hun. Boris’ deep laughter echoed throughout the hall, which cause some people to look at him. Hank wondered what was so funny and then they recalled their conversation that Boris had said his favorite character in the movie was Attila and Hank laughed as well.

As they walked the transition from the history of Europe to a center corridor, Boris stopped suddenly and looked at Hank as if he remembered something.

“What are you thinking about, Boris?” Hank asked with curiosity as he had not seen that kind of look on Boris’ face before.

Boris motioned for the two of them to sit on a bench nearby. Boris said quietly, “I have just recalled a memory from my youth, Hank, may I share it with you?”

“Well, sure, is it a good memory?” Hank asked.

“Ja, it is,” Boris said simply.

Hank had the impression that Boris was spilling a world secret to him as Boris looked around and seemed to make sure they were alone and no one could hear him. Hank was thoroughly amused with Boris as he seemed to be more carefree and intensely interested in everything around him than Hank had ever seen him before. 

Hank smiled and said, “Well, you have my curiosity piqued now, Boris; were you a museum spy or something?”

Boris replied, “Not really, but as a boy, I imagined that I owned a museum and could visit it whenever I wanted. One year, my family went on holiday to St. Petersburg and there was a spectacular museum there. It is called The Kuntskamera or the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. I was, oh, perhaps nine years old at the time and I was fascinated by history and things of the world. I begged my Elders to allow me to go to the museum for an afternoon. They did not want to go with me, and were greatly reluctant to release me to be on my own, and only after I promised that I would do better in my studies; mind you, I was already privately tutored in addition to being at the top of my class,” Boris waved a hand in the air and continued, “In any case, I had to take up another discipline…hmmm, what was it…” 

Hank was completely engrossed in Boris’ story and nodded with enthusiasm; he had never heard Boris talk about anything like this before.

Boris continued, “Ah, ja, I had to promise to take up ball room dancing in addition to everything else that I was learning at the time.”

“Ball room dancing at nine years old? Seriously, Boris?” Hank said with some disbelief.

“Ja, I speak the truth. My Elders assigned four guards to take care of me and escort me to the museum and then back to the villa house at the required times. You can imagine how excited I was. When the guards and I arrived in the museum, I offered them half of my entire year’s allowance, which was more than all four of their wages combined, if they would allow me to roam the museum on my own, completely alone during the time allotted to me.”

Boris continued with a slightly wicked look in his eyes, “I reminded the guards that my Elders had said nothing about them escorting me around INSIDE the museum; my Elders had failed in the specificity of their instructions and the guards learned that day of what a clever boy I had become. The payment I offered my guards purchased their time as they waited for me. My payment was also to secure that none of us were to say anything about any of it to my Elders. I promised to be back at the entrance at a time we all agreed upon so that they could escort me back as they were charged with doing.”

“Really, wow that took guts,” Hank said in amazement, “Did you trust them?”

“Not completely, however, my desire to be alone in the museum was so great that day that I was willing to do almost anything, and suffer whatever consequences came my way if it went amiss,” Boris stated, lifted his chin and paused.

Hank asked, “So what happened?”

Boris smiled, “I kept my end of the deal and so did the guards. I was fortunate, indeed, but I believe they were simply amused at how I used the situation to my advantage. My Elders never found out about my private indulgence that afternoon and walking these halls today, reminded me of the freedom I had that day, now, so long ago.”

“That’s amazing, Boris. Can I say something serious?” Hank asked.

“Ja, of course, is something wrong?” Boris asked gently.

“Nothing’s wrong, well, I am just really glad to hear that you did have some joy when you were a kid; I, uh, kinda thought that you didn’t have any fun at all,” Hank admitted.

Boris held Hank’s upper arm and looked into his eyes, “My youth was at most times serious, full of hard work and, er, a challenge, but I promised myself I would survive it and I taught myself what I needed to do to survive it,” Boris looked at his wrist watch, “Are you hungry?”

Hank thought to himself as he looked away for a moment, ‘No wonder Boris takes promise-making so seriously, he learned to survive by making and keeping promises, by being clever and by paying attention to details.’

“Hank?” Boris asked as he moved his head to attract Hank’s attention.

“Oh, yeah! I’m always hungry!” Hank exclaimed.

During their late lunch at the café, the two men enjoyed sharing what their favorite parts of the museum were for each of them. It was almost closing time for the museum and there were not many diners left in the café as well.

As they stood up from their chairs, and prepared to leave, Boris shivered slightly and looked at Hank in surprise, “Where did that come from?”

Hank waved Udo over and he brought them their coats, which they put on, “Maybe they turn the heat down towards closing time…” Hank mused, “If we start seeing our breath, then we need to worry.”

 

As they walked down the steps to their cars, Boris stopped and turned to look again at the building, which by now, was lit up because it was very late afternoon and the sky had darkened. He smiled in that usual slight way that was his own, and looked eagerly as the lights shined upward along the columns. Hank smiled as he watched Boris and thought that on this day, Boris the grown man was as happy as Boris the boy was on that day he had the museum all to himself.

Boris and Hank personally thanked the three museum guards for their time and efforts; then climbed into the Bentley and seated themselves comfortably to enjoy the ride home.

 

After simple bowls of hot soup, glasses of wine, and thick slices of crusty bread with butter, taken in their Apartment, the two men finished their day lounging together on their bed and reliving their experience. Hank turned and moved as he held and moved Boris to lie prone somewhat beneath him; Hank looked down at Boris with great affection and smiled a loving smile. Boris returned the smile and expression. It was quiet as they looked deeply into each other’s eyes. 

Hank said softly, “I can tell you’re happy, Tree; I am happy, too; it was a wonderful day for us, thank you.”

Boris placed his hand on the back of Hank’s head to draw him downward into a kiss…

 

~~~

 

It was the middle of the afternoon, right before their three p.m. coffee time; Hank had left the Infirmary to meet up with Boris for their afternoon ritual. Instead, Hank met Udo inside Boris’ office as Udo filed some papers away and Hank asked where Boris was.

Udo said innocently, “Yes, Dr. Hank, the Master is smoking a cigar out on the Meditation Terrace. He said that He would meet you in,” Udo checked his wrist watch, “Now, fifteen minutes.”

“Please tell me he’s wearing a coat,” Hank asked with some annoyance.

“Oh yes, Sir, He is, and a scarf, and gloves as well as a hat,” Udo stated.

“You know that I’m not happy about the fact that he’s outside,” Hank said and began to wonder about the hat.

“Yes, Sir, I reminded Him about all of that and He stated that He is also wearing two pairs of socks,” Udo said plainly.

Hank sighed, “My Husband! Just what am I going to do with him, Udo?”

Udo smiled somewhat shyly, “Oh Dr. Hank, you two still have so much to learn about each other.”

 

Hank grabbed his coat and scarf and then went to the Meditation Terrace, and saw that it had been cleared of snow and ice. The Oriental-style chairs, the matching table and cabinet had all been brought in for the winter along with the three bonsai trees and the lanterns. The ivory marble terrace was stark and cold now as it overlooked the snow covered landscape.

Hank first looked out of the French doors that led out onto the Terrace from the Music Room and saw Boris as he stood and leaned against the half-wall on his arms happily puffing away at his cigar as he looked out across the property. Hank was pleased to see that Boris was dressed to be outside in his long, black wool trench coat, pewter-toned scarf, black leather gloves and a charcoal-toned wool hat that Hank had not seen before. Hank continued to watch Boris with an expression of amusement, his annoyance diminishing, because Boris looked so incredibly handsome at that moment: a tall, dark impressive figure against a light barren background. Hank smiled and shook his head as he donned his coat and scarf.

As Hank opened the door and entered the Terrace, he cheerfully said, “Good afternoon, Dr. Zhivago!” (Hank said this because Boris’ hat was similar in style to the one Omar Sharif wore in that movie.)

“Ha! You found me, Hank! Dobryj dyen’! (Good Afternoon in Russian) Do you care to join me? I have an extra Montecristo in my pocket for you,” Boris said happily.

“Ah, no thanks, not today,” Hank said as he closed the door behind him and walked over to Boris, “Hey, that’s a nice hat; I’ve never seen you wear that before.”

“Well, ja,” Boris took another puff, “…I only wear this astrakhan when I am up here. It is a comfortable hat and it keeps my head quite warm.”

Hank looked up at Boris and admired the way his silver hair peeked out from under the dark hat; Hank’s blue eyes were bright in the sunlight which reflected off of the ivory marble of the terrace and he said, “Something tells me that you come out here more often than I know about. And just how often would that be?”

Boris looked at Hank and gave him a wicked smile, “It was inevitable that you would discover this, so I will not insult you by denying it.”

“You know I worry about you and cold weather, Boris; if you didn’t look so incredibly handsome right now dressed in your ensemble, I’d probably be pretty upset with you,” Hank said.

“It is beautiful out here right now, ja?” Boris said happily as he waved an arm outward towards the scenery trying to distract Hank.

“But, Boris, I really don’t like it when you spend time outside in the cold,” Hank said with concern.

“I know that, however, I cannot change the fact that it is still winter here and I wanted a cigar,” Boris said defensively as he took a puff.

Boris took the other unused wrapped cigar out of his pocket and waved it slightly in front of Hank as he smiled at him.

“No, I don’t want a cigar today, Boris, thank you anyway,” Hank smiled back, “So, the hat is warm? I hope that you always dress properly for the cold if you’re going to come out here to smoke. Tell me, how often do you do this?”

Boris placed the cigar back in his pocket, took another puff on his cigar and replied, “Yes, the astrakhan is warm, this one is made of wool, and thankfully not fetal lambs’ wool, and I do always dress when…”

Hank interrupted Boris, “What did you say? Fetal lambs’ wool?”

Boris replied, “Ja, technically, this type of a hat is traditionally made of fetal lamb’s wool, but I find that harvesting practice completely appalling and cruel and I refuse it completely. I had this hat made of Merino Wool from New Zealand,” Boris paused a moment, “Huh…it has been a while since I was in New Zealand…”

“Oh boy, I learn something new about the world every single day from you, Boris. Okay, where was I, oh, yeah, um, so how often do you come out here?” Hank asked yet again with amazement tinged with curiosity.

“Hmmm, perhaps two or three times a week and only in the afternoon, when it is not snowing, and only when you are otherwise engaged with your work,” Boris admitted fully.

“Does Udo know about this?” Hank asked even though Hank had just learned that.

“Oh, ja,” Boris stated plainly, he took another puff and looked out over the snow covered landscape.

“He’s never told me that you do this,” Hank said.

“Have you ever asked him?” Boris teased.

“Well, no, I didn’t know that I NEEDED to ask him if you go outside to smoke a cigar,” Hank said with a grimace, “And now that I think of it, I just thought that you didn’t smoke in the winter because I know you don’t allow smoking in the house.”

“Hence the need for me to come out here to smoke,” Boris teased again with a grin, “And may I remind you that I am continuing to adhere to the mandate you gave me that I am to smoke no more than four cigars a week. Do you recall this?”

Hank nodded, “Yeah, I do remember that and thank you for following that.”

Boris turned his head to look at Hank; Boris eyes were a bright silver grey and he smiled and spoke in that odd way of his whenever he held the cigar between his teeth, “Ja, Dr. Hank, and I am also wearing two pairs of socks.”

“Yeah, at least I know about that,” Hank said.

Boris took a puff and held the Montecristo with his gloved fingers and asked seriously, “Are you truly upset with me, my beloved One?”

“No, not anymore,” Hank sighed, “I can’t ever stay mad at you,” Hank’s expression changed and he smiled.

Boris’ eyebrows went up and he said, “Oh good lord, Hank, now what are you thinking?”

“Well, Tree, what if we created a room inside the house that would be designated as just the Cigar Room or something like that. You could stay inside where it’s warm and still enjoy your cigars; you get what you want and I don’t have to worry about you freezing to death outside,” Hank said cheerfully.

“That is a splendid idea, Hank; incredible, that is what you are! But I will miss wearing my astrakhan up here. Ah, well, I suppose that I shall wear it now when we take our walks in the winter,” Boris said with enthusiasm as he bent down and placed the remainder of his cigar in the ivory marble ashtray that had been placed on the floor of the Terrace.

Hank looked down at the ashtray for a moment and then back up at Boris as he straightened. Boris took a step closer to Hank and looked at him with fondness.

“Why haven’t you been wearing the hat when we take our walks outside?” Hank asked simply.

“Because I only use it when I smoke up here in the wintertime,” Boris said simply.

“You’re just silly,” Hank teased.

“Not as far as you know… Come, my beloved One, let us take our coffee now and then scout the house for the new Cigar Room, ja?” Boris asked with eagerness as he already had two rooms in mind and became excited to show Hank these rooms.

~~~

 

“Why didn’t we think of this before?” Hank asked.

“I do not have an answer for that question,” Boris replied, “This was a marvelous idea.”

They had decided to choose the small room which was situated next to the Main Living Room. It had been always been defined as a Guest Office and now that there was a greater need, it became the Cigar Room for Boris. There was a door which made it private and kept the smoke from entering the Main Living Room. The space was not as large as the Library, but not as small as their Closet Room. There was a tall wide window that could be opened in the mild weather times of the year and if one looked out of the window, one would have a view of a row of trees and one of the gravel walkways with a terminating view to one of the stone walls that surrounded the Shadow Pond property; it had the look of a pastoral painting and in the spring, and summer and early autumn different flowers were planted along the edge of the walkway. There was an ornate, vaulted, wood paneled ceiling and intricate walnut molding. The walls were plastered and painted a deep blue with light grey trim; the floor was a medium grey marble.

Boris expressed great interest as he looked forward to sitting in the room, as he smoked, and take the time to admire and contemplate the view out of the window, “Life is a journey and to view walkway from here…” He said as he stood in the middle of room (where his chair would be placed) and looked at the window, “…will become meditative.”

As Boris and Hank stood and watched Gregor, Illiya, and Tomas, all up on scaffolding to re-work the air-handling ducts and the Housekeepers clean every surface, they smiled and nodded to each other.

Gregor’s plan was to modify the air movement in the room so that the cigar smoke was drawn up and forced outside and it would be another day or so before that project was finished.

The room had been cleared of the office furniture and was empty at the moment.

“Do you want to redecorate the room, Boris?” Hank asked.

“I do not think so, not at this time, at least, these blue and grey shades are appealing to me. Let us go to the basement and choose what furniture we wish to have brought up, ja?” Boris suggested.

They turned and left the room, and Boris said, “It will be cold down there; we should stop at the Wine Cellar to put on the parkas.”

Hank nodded enthusiastically.

They met Udo along the way and asked him to join them.

All three men donned the parkas, and then Boris became distracted by some wines in the cellar. He walked further into the cellar and pulled out various bottles from their resting places as he read their labels; when the bottle wasn’t what Boris wanted, he pushed it back into its resting place. 

“Uh, Boris, we’re getting furniture, not wine,” Hank said.

“Ja, I know, but since we are here, I want to choose a bottle for us to enjoy with our dinner tonight,” Boris said as he crouched down to look at another label, “Ah! This one,” Boris pulled out the bottle and blew the dust off of it, then stopped, turned his head in their direction and asked, “Udo, what ARE we having for dinner tonight?”

“I believe Chef said that you are having roasted pork tonight, Sir,” Udo stated.

“Hmmm, ja, this wine may serve us,” Boris said as he almost succumbed to looking at another bottle.

“Come on, Boris, its cold in here, can we go to the basement now?” Hank asked.

Hank and Udo looked at each other as Boris changed his mind and did look at another bottle of wine; he pulled it out, blew the dust off of that bottle, nodded his head, and put the other bottle back in the place it had been in.

“Ja, now we are set! To the basement,” Boris said happily.

As they walked around the basement, and looked at the furniture, Boris announced, “We need at least two nice seating chairs, perhaps some foot stools, a side table, some lamps, a cupboard, an ashtray and a rug,” Then he said almost to himself, “Should I move the humidor from my Office or, the Music Room, eh, Udo, do I have another humidor which I am not using?” Boris chuckled to himself as he thought this question was funny.

Hank shook his head as he watched Boris look at and inspect things, still holding the bottle of wine to his chest, and thought to himself, ‘This is truly a happy Boris.’

It took the three of them thirty minutes to locate all of the items for the Cigar Room (Boris finally decided to move the larger of his two humidors, which was the one in his Office, to the new Cigar Room) and after Udo had noted what furniture they had chosen (which he would arrange to have brought up later), they walked back to the entrance of the Wine Cellar to hang the coats on the wall hooks. 

Boris started to walk back into the Cellar, as he had a thought about another wine, “Perhaps a Spanish tempranillo instead a pinot noir…”

Hank lightheartedly grabbed Boris’ arm to stop him from walking and said, “Okay, Wine Boy, come with me, what you picked for our dinner will be great, I just know it.” 

Hank knew that if he had said ‘fine’ instead of ‘great’, Boris would have interpreted that as settling on their wine and Boris never settled on wine and he would have definitely gone back into the Wine Cellar.

Udo had just finished hanging up their parkas and saw the two men playfully embrace and jostle each other briefly, both of them with smiles on their faces as they looked at each other; Udo looked away and smiled himself.


	19. Recreation, Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It may still be winter, but the time is right for Boris and Hank to have some long overdue leisurely amusement.

It was now the middle of February and as always winter still gripped the Hamptons as well as the rest of the eastern seaboard of United States in snow. 

Hank could tell that Boris was getting restless and was now ready to travel again. It made Hank feel good that Boris’ physical health remained stable and although he still ate sparingly, Boris was strong, energetic, and calm in a way that would unnerve most people who did not know him. 

Boris knew this and took delight in it at times especially when it came to business dealings. Boris was shrewd in business and a force to be reckoned with, and over the early weeks of the new year, he was able to grow their businesses substantially and provide well for their humanitarian projects. Boris offered to Hank that there would come a time soon during the year when they would need to travel to their projects in Thailand and in Russia, and the shipyard in Gibraltar and had hinted at other locations as well. Hank wanted to ask about Tibet and Boris knew this; Boris preempted Hank and told him that Tibet was still off limits, but refused to tell Hank why, citing that the time was not right yet to share this information.

Sometimes, only time and unconditional love can heal old wounds and diminish old pains and fears. Hank started to believe that Boris had conquered his anxieties as well. There had been no anxiety attacks in many weeks. Boris truly appeared happier than Hank had ever seen him and Boris thought that Hank was so joyful that it had be nearly spiritual; their intrinsic affection for each other went even beyond what happened during their ‘private times’ and both men shared every emotion without reservation.

Hank, too, was very happy now. He had gotten over his fear of being a patriarch (he worried now that he was doing it correctly rather than worry about being a patriarch at all), and felt more at ease and more at home in Shadow Pond than ever before. He still didn’t know where everything was in the enormous house, but now he wasn’t afraid to ask for help and didn’t worry so much. He became busier in his medical practice with the combination of the Shadow Pond Infirmary, HankMed, advising at Hamptons Heritage, and the weekly internet teachings with the doctors at the Bhaisajyaguru Hospital in Tibet. (Boris’ translation services were of tremendous help and there were times when they had to get creative with the use of words because conversational Lhasa didn’t have medical descriptions – everyone had a good laugh from time to time.)

Both men were now completely comfortable with, and had an abundance of love and respect for one another. Hank had told Boris once that ‘they came as a set’ and that appeared to be true because if you spoke with one of them alone, you would feel that the other one was nearby or would be at any moment. 

 

One morning, over breakfast, Boris announced, “I truly miss the beach. We are going to the beach, Hank.”

“What? The beach? Uh, it’s February, Boris, if you haven’t noticed, there still is snow everywhere,” Hank said nervously.

Boris sighed and replied, “Not here on the beach, Hank, a beach on St. Lucia. We can take the ocean boat, but flying there shall be much quicker; we can leave in the morning and have sand between our toes by afternoon. What do you say to this?”

“Is it warm in St. Lucia right now?” Hank asked and hoped that the answer was yes. Even though Hank was the ‘more warm-blooded’ of the two men, he was tired of the cold winter weather now and since he constantly worried about Boris freezing to death, he was ready for warm sun, warm sand, and warm surf for them both.

“Yes, day time temperatures are on average, hmm perhaps (and he converted Celsius in his head to Fahrenheit) about 83 degrees with continual ocean breezes. Please say yes to this Hank, I truly believe that we need a holiday awat together,” Boris said this with a smile and anticipation.

“Yes, please. Let’s fly there; I don’t want to waste any time. Where do you want to stay on St. Lucia?” Hank asked. 

“The best resort there is Jade Mountain; I have stayed there before and their suites are actually called sanctuaries. They are magnificent and have private infinity pools which overlook the Pitons Mountains; can you get away from your practice for a week?” Boris asked with hope.

“I’ll make that happen; we do need a vacation,” Hank replied.

“And I shall ask Udo to make our arrangements ‘happen’,” Boris said with relief.

“Do we have to do the whole security team thing again? Can’t we just escape and hide-away there for a week?” Hank asked even though he knew what the answer would be.

Boris looked fondly at his husband and wished he could tell him something different; Boris despised having to disappoint Hank and he tried not to show that, but he wasn’t successful.

Hank said, “Oh, never mind, I know what the answer is. It’s okay, Boris,” Hank saw the pained expression on Boris’ face and reached over to hold Boris’ hand as they sat at the dining table. They looked at each other and grasped their hands tightly for a moment.

“You shall get to see me in my bathing suit again and perhaps less,” Boris teased.

Hank burst out laughing and that made Boris laugh as well.

 

~~~

 

The smooth flight took only five hours and they landed at Hewanorra Airport on St. Lucia just after three in the afternoon. The drive to the resort took an hour and the scenery along the way was green, green and even more green. Boris kept commenting on the lushness of the plant life and as he was very pleased that the only color of white seen on the ground was not snow, but what was on the sandy beaches that they glimpsed while they drove the winding St. Jude Highway past Piton Mitan, Petit Piton, the Soufriere Drive In Volcano and the Diamond Botanical Gardens.

Hank thought that Khalil was going to have a heart attack because when they had picked up the cars that Udo had leased for the trip; it was not the usual two large SUVs and a sedan limousine, it was something very different. Upon Hank’s and Boris’ strict instructions, Udo had obtained two Mercedes-AMG SUVs for everyone in their escort, which included Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine, plus an Aston Martin Vantage convertible similar to Hank’s own car. Their plan was that Hank would drive the Vantage which would be led by and followed by the SUVs; to Boris and Hank, that was a simple thing to do, and they really wanted to drive with the top down; they had to work hard to convince Khalil that they would be perfectly safe.

Hank promised Khalil that he would drive safely and not go over the speed limit, nor would he take curves too tightly nor too quickly, and once Hank got the hang of driving on the left side of road (an amusing event in and of itself – to Boris and Hank at least), the drive to Jade Mountain was ‘a good deal of fun’ (Boris’ words). Boris and Hank were immensely happy as the wind ruffled their hair, dappled sunlight through the canopy of trees passed over them, and the scenery was so unlike the Hamptons in the winter.

The entourage pulled into the circular entrance drive of the Jade Mountain Resort and everything happened at once: 

\---Bertram, the Jade Mountain Resort’s General Manager walked over to meet and greet his new VIP guests, two of his Concierge Managers flanked him and two Servers flanked them.

\-- Hank had just barely put the Vantage into park as he got out of the car first followed quickly by Boris and they both looked around and then saw what they had come for – the beach. Hank said, “Come on, Boris, let’s take a walk!” As he started to quickly walk away from the still running vehicle with Boris next to him. Both men smiled widely and laughed because they had planned this ‘mini escape’ (Hank’s words, but Boris’ idea) from the entourage.

\---Khalil in Car 1 and Yussef in Car 2 had also just put the cars into park and everyone had to jump out quickly to attempt to form a perimeter. Khalil motioned with hand signals to Jon Michel and Jacob, who were closest, to catch up with Boris and Hank as he came around the car and looked at Udo with a tight expression and who had also just exited their car as well. Everyone looked in the direction of where the two men were going and Udo noticed that they were trying to take off their shoes and socks as fast as they could and hopped around, laughing and held onto one another’s shoulders as they did so that they wouldn’t fall. (There was a bench at the end of the sidewalk which the two men could have used, but that would simply have taken too much time to sit down…)

Khalil started to walk faster to catch up with them when Udo threw him a heavy canvas tote bag which Udo had taken out of his ever-present excursion satchel.

“What’s this for?!” Khalil said loudly, impatiently, and angrily as he caught the tote in mid-air.

“It’s for their shoes and socks, they are going to leave them on the sidewalk, get them for me, and I will check all of us in,” Udo called out loudly after Khalil.

“Good Afternoon, Sir,” Bertram said cordially and held out his hand, “Welcome to Jade Mountain! I take it that you will be checking everyone in?” And he and his managers looked around at everyone in the entourage with broad smiles and happy expressions, and then they looked in the direction of where Hank and Boris were walking.

“Yes, good afternoon and thank you; please forgive our two gentlemen’s enthusiasm, eh, they really enjoy walking on the beach,” Udo stated confidently as he shook Bertam’s hand, “I should also like to confirm with you and arrange for the gentlemen’s requirements and specific needs during the week.” 

“Splendid, Sir, we are here to assist in every way possible; please allow us to get all of you settled and comfortable and ready for your vacation,” replied Bertram as he waved over two Servers who had trays with glasses that held some type of colorful, fruit-based tropical beverage that had a piece of fruit perched on the top of elegant glasses.

Everyone looked at Udo for permission to accept the drinks and he smiled and nodded his head. Udo felt amused when Bertram said the word ‘vacation’ as he knew of only two people in the group who were on vacation at the moment and Udo was quite pleased that it had started as quickly and as happily for the Masters as it had. Udo had a feeling there was going to be a lot of mischief made by his Masters during this trip.

Khalil caught up to where Boris and Hank had left their shoes and socks, just as Udo had said they would, scooped them up and stuffed them in the long-handled tote bag which he slung around himself to carry it cross-body style. He walked on the sand as quickly as he could to catch up to Jon Michel and Jacob who were now the proper shadowing distance from Boris and Hank and he grumbled to himself in Arabic about the Masters’ acting like wild young men instead of responsible adults – first with the car and now this - and just how did they think they could get away with being alone without him and the team…

The remaining members of the entourage re-parked and secured the cars, gathered luggage and followed the concierge staff to escort them all to the four suites which Udo had arranged for them. 

Boris and Hank would be in the Star Sanctuary suite as that was the one they had chosen because they liked the color scheme and the view from the infinity pool. The three Sky Sanctuary suites were near the Star Sanctuary and all were at the end of one wing of the resort - which made Khalil happy; and the Star suites were more than large enough to accommodate Udo, Khalil, and Yussef in one, Frank and Catherine in another, and John Michel, Jacob, and Anton in the third.

Boris and Hank had slowed their walk to their usual beach walking speed and relished the feel of the warm sand beneath their feet and between their toes. They had not bothered, nor did they care, to roll up their trouser legs and so with the gentle waves that washed up on the shore and that they walked at the water’s edge, the lower part of their trouser legs were now soaked and sandy.

Hank said, “This was worth waiting for.”

Boris chuckled and replied, “Indeed.”

They continued to walk in the bright warm sunshine with their sunglasses shading their eyes, their hair still in disarray from the drive in the convertible, and since they had changed into short sleeve shirts and light weight trousers on the flight down, they felt warmer and more comfortable than they had in several months.

“Now I don’t have to worry about you freezing to death; I am so happy right now!” Hank exclaimed.

Boris chuckled and replied, “I feel practically naked without the heavier clothing which I have to wear at home to keep me warm.”

Hank stopped and looked at Boris, “Naked, huh?” He looked at Boris up and down, “You’re not quite naked, but as soon as we get to our suite, you had better watch out, mister.”

Boris had also stopped walking and looked at Hank, “I have three words to say to you, Hank: private…infinity…pool.”

They smiled at each other with all-knowing smiles and continued to walk down the beach.

 

~~~

 

Boris awoke to the soft morning sunlight which filtered into their Sanctuary and as he could see the infinity pool from their bed, it appeared to look like a polished mirror and reflected the blue sky. He didn’t care what time it was and stayed still on the bed as he enjoyed the smoothness of the white sheets against his bare skin; Boris felt perfectly comfortable, warm, and happy. He promised himself that he would remember this always. Boris turned his head slightly and saw his beloved husband asleep next to him and that made Boris sigh as his mind began to recall the pleasures they had given one another during the night; pleasures which also included the private infinity pool.

Boris thought to himself, ‘This is simply glorious.’

Hank’s face was half buried in the pillow facing Boris as he slept on his belly and murmured softly; he shifted slightly but remained asleep. The white cover sheet only covered Hank’s legs and feet.

Boris admired the contrast of Hank’s dark head of hair and dark ‘fashion model’ beard against the white pillow case. Boris then became hungry and it wasn’t for food. He hoped that Hank wouldn’t mind what Boris wanted to do next as it would involve waking Hank from sleep. Boris thought of creative ways to apologize for intruding upon Hank’s slumber and he hoped that Hank would accept at least one of them.

Boris placed his right hand on the back of Hank’s neck and slowly moved it down Hank’s spine as he applied slight pressure with his long fingers. Hank smiled and murmured again, but now, he was awake. Boris moved himself into a position where he could firmly massage Hank’s back with now both hands.

From where Hank’s head was on the pillow, he moaned and said, “Good morning, Tree…aw, gees, that feels sooo good…”

Then Boris moved himself further in such a way so that his lips were at Hank’s ear and his knees were on either side of Hank’s thighs and he whispered, “Please allow me to apologize for waking you. This should also feel quite good, my beloved One…”

 

Boris lounged on the bed, his back propped up by many pillows, his legs stretched out comfortably. Hank lounged with his back against the left side of Boris’ body, his head rested on Boris’ left shoulder and his legs stretched out as well. Boris had his left arm wrapped around Hank and his left hand was on Hank’s chest. Hank’s right arm was across Boris’ abdomen and down along Boris’ right hip. The cover sheet had somehow fallen onto the floor...

“I could die at this very moment the most happiest of men,” Boris said lightly with his eyes closed and a grin on his lips.

“Well, that’s dramatic,” Hank replied as he stared out across the suite, the pool and at the Petit Piton Mountain.

“I am merely trying to describe how perfect this is,” Boris said.

“I know that, Tree, I’m just teasing you. You’re not cold are you? I can go find the sheet…”Hank started to say.

“No, not at all, my beloved One,” Boris said dreamily as he hugged Hank more firmly, “To be lying here completely unclothed and yet feel warm is a treat, surely.” Boris then opened his eyes and looked out at the same view that Hank watched.

A moment later; “Huh,” Boris said.

“What, ‘huh’?” Hank asked.

“I am actually quite hungry now,” Boris said with some surprise.

Hank quickly sat up, turned and looked at Boris and playfully said, “Well, I had better take care of that!” Hank rolled over and placed himself on top of Boris with his knees on either side of his hips, held his face and kissed him many times as he did so.

“No, no, my love…” Boris said in between Hank’s kisses, “Ja, I shall always…be hungry for this…but what I refer to….at the moment is…edible food,” Boris said happily.

“Oh!” Hank stopped kissing Boris, pulled back and looked at Boris, “Okay, that’s great! Stay here, I shall hunter/gather something for us!” Hank said loudly and slid off the bed. He looked down and located the cover sheet on the floor which he shook out and as he held one side with both hands, he flung the sheet over and across Boris and it covered him from head to toe.

From underneath the cover sheet, Boris innocently said, “I shall bet that I look like a dead man now, ja?”

Hank swiftly pulled the bed sheet down so that Boris was then only covered from his lower belly to his feet, “Much better. No talk of dying, not today!” Hank said playfully.

Boris watched with amusement as Hank walked naked across the suite over to a side table which held a phone, a lamp and a carved wooden bowl full of fruit. Hank looked at the fruit and picked up a mango and held it in his hand, weighing it, while a mischievous expression crossed his face as he looked at Boris.

“No, Hank, no food battles; we do not want to get kicked out of this resort,” Boris said with amusement.

“Yeah, your right, I guess that we’ve already caused enough havoc with Khalil and everyone,” Hank said laughingly as he put the mango back in the fruit bowl.

Boris chuckled, “Ja, I must tell you this; Khalil asked me just prior to dinner yesterday of what we pay him for. I replied that he and his team keep us safe. Then he said that the incidents about the convertible and us “…running away on the beach…” were not safe and that he was quite upset about it all. I tried to assure him that we had complete faith that someone would catch up. Hank, he growled at me in Arabic!”

Hank laughed and picked up the phone, “Hi, yes, good morning to you, too…um, what time is it? Oh, 10:30, nice, can we still get breakfast? …That’s great! We’re pretty hungry…” Hank winked at Boris, “Yeah…a big breakfast please…that sounds good…oh, and lots of coffee, please…hey, thanks! Okay, twenty minutes, thank you very much!” Hank hung up the phone and ran over to the bed and dove onto the bed and also onto Boris.

Boris grunted and exhaled from the angled impact and started to wrestle with Hank, who wrestled him back, and both became tangled up in the bed sheet. Hank was taken by surprise at how quickly Boris had his shoulders pinned against the bed but greatly enjoyed the position he was in as he looked up at Boris. 

Boris was on his hands and knees above Hank and looked down at him with a wicked smile and said, “I have a thought, Hank, we may want to cover ourselves somewhat more properly before breakfast arrives as it would impolite of us to be found in this position by strangers, ja? We can resume this delightful activity…” Boris quickly kissed Hank on the forehead, “…at a later time.”

 

They wore their hotel robes over their pajama trousers as they sat in the seating area of the suite and enjoyed their breakfast. Hank’s robe was open and the belt trailed behind him. Boris chuckled because Hank kept stepping on it as he moved about the suite and Hank pretended that it was a tail; Boris was quite pleased to have almost a full view of Hank’s muscular chest and abdomen; Boris also loved the way Hank wore his sleeping pants so low on his hips. Boris’ robe was open, loosely belted at the waist; Hank took every opportunity to admire the silver hair on Boris’ broad chest. 

Boris ate quite a bit more than his usual amount and Hank was ecstatic. They were mesmerized by the view of the ocean, the sky and the mountains and spent many quiet minutes as they gazed outwards and sipped on their coffee.

A single knock on the door alerted them that Udo had come to visit and Hank opened the door for Udo, “Good morning, Udo, how are you today?”

“I am very well, Dr. Hank, and you, Sir?” Udo said as he entered their suite.

“I’m great, Udo, watch out for my tail…” Hank said as he walked with Udo further into the room, the belt still trailing behind him.

“Good morning, Master, how are we this morning?” Udo said formally and with a smile. He saw Boris seated comfortably on a thick cushioned couch, in his lounge clothing, as he drank his coffee and looked out at the view. Udo was pleased to see his Master at what appeared to be at the peak of health and harmony.

“Good morning, Udo. WE are more than quite well this morning,” Boris said lightly yet sincerely, “Is there a plan for today?”

“I am sad to say that it will be quite a dull day for you both, Sirs. There is only eating, drinking and relaxing on the beach scheduled for you,” Udo said now in mock sadness.

Simultaneously: Hank said, “Oh, man!” and Boris said, “Egad!”

All three chuckled and smiled at each other.

Udo stated, “We have reserved a private beach hut on Anse Chastanet Beach for you to enjoy all day until sunset. The hut is the one you like most which is at the end of the beach, Sir. All of your daytime food and drink will be provided and they tell me that the ocean water is perfect today for your swimming. I have requested extra towels. After sunset when you are ready, you shall have time to come back to your suite, refresh yourselves and change for dinner which will be at Jade Cuisine restaurant. The Chef will most likely stop by to greet you.”

“Nice,” said Hank after he took a sip of his coffee.

“Splendid, Udo, two things...first, I should like to reserve a few other huts nearby so that Khalil and his team, Frank, Catherine, and you, of course, can also lounge in the shade, ja? I feel the need to provide some sort of comfort and relaxation; I know all of you will be more of less on duty, but I do not want any of you to be out in the hot sun and…” Boris trailed off as he looked out at the view.

Hank and Udo looked at each other and then back at Boris and waited for him to finish his sentence.

“…I should like to offer some sort of an apology to Khalil and his team for our rather corybantic activities yesterday. Please make the suggestion for us that all of you are to dress lightly to be comfortable out on the beach. They could enjoy the day, swim, and keep a close watch on us, which is probably what they will want to do anyway; they can do that quite nicely in the shade, oh and there should be food and drink for all of you as well,” Boris said quietly.

“Our what activities?” Hank asked.

“Ja, our corybantic, er,” Boris closed his eyes a moment as he pulled the definition in his mind, “Our wild and frenzied behavior of yesterday,” Boris stated as he innocently looked at Hank and Udo who both looked back at him with curiosity.

“Oh, is that what that was called,” Hank said as he nodded his head, “Did you just make that word up?”

Boris looked wide-eyed at Hank and said flatly, “No, it is a true word with origins in Greek and it is from the mid-17th century; does not everyone know that word?”

“Ah, certainly, Sir; I will make arrangements for the other huts. Thank you very much on behalf of the staff. What was the second thing that you require?” Udo asked.

“Hank, do you snorkel?” Boris asked.

“Uh, yeah, I haven’t done that in a long time,” Hank replied.

“If they said that the ocean water is perfect today, that means visibility at the reef near the south end of the beach will be stunning; I should wish for us to go snorkeling this afternoon, ja? Hank, what do you say to this?” Boris asked with a smile.

“Sure, sounds great!” Hank said enthusiastically.

“Udo, please arrange for us to have snorkeling gear including shorties as I do not wish neither Hank nor I to get our backs sunburned whilst we are in the water,” Boris stated and looked back at the view.

“Very good, Sirs, when do you wish to go to the hut?” Udo asked.

Boris looked at Hank and smiled slightly; Hank looked at Udo and said, “In an hour?”

Boris nodded his approval and sipped on his coffee.

“Excellent, we will prepare your escort and all that you have requested,” Udo bowed slightly and left their suite.

Hank walked over to Boris, looked down at him and smiled, “You’re like a Klondike bar.”

Boris’ eyebrows went up and he said, “I beg your pardon?” As he tilted his head and looked up at Hank.

“Yeah, hard on the outside and soft in the middle; you big softie, you,” Hank said.

“I still do not understand what you are saying, but I shall take it as a compliment; shall we get ready for the beach?” Boris said.

 

They were ready and waited to be escorted to the beach when Boris stood behind Hank and embraced him as they looked out at the view and said, “I am feeling quite roguish today, my beloved One, what sort of mischievous fun can we make together whereby we shall not anger Khalil again?”

“That’s a great question. I’m sure that Khalil is now on high alert for any stunts we might pull, we’ll have to be careful,” Hank said thoughtfully.

 

It was the perfect day; for everyone. 

Even Khalil relaxed enough to enjoy the day; he did appreciate the nearby huts that Boris had requested for them and may have even forgiven the men for their previous day’s antics, but he didn’t let on to that. They were on their best behavior and when they went snorkeling, Hank asked if three of Khalil’s men could shadow them, which made Khalil very happy.

Snorkeling was perfect as the water was crystal clear and afterwards, after they peeled off the wetsuits, rinsed the saltwater off of themselves, and enjoyed a chilled luncheon of seafood and pasta, Boris kept talking about the lobsters and moray eels that they had seen. Hank was fascinated by the coral.

Towards the later part of the afternoon, after most of the other guests in the resort had made their way back to their rooms to prepare for their dinners, Hank wanted to stay and watch the sunset. An ice cold sweet Riesling wine was requested, and it was served promptly; Boris treated it as an aperitif. 

Udo reminded them that dinner time was approaching and that they might consider taking time to refresh themselves before going to the restaurant. The resort staff lit torches along the shoreline as was the usual early evening custom at the resort. Boris encouraged the entourage to take turns and step away from the group in pairs to enjoy their own dinners, for which they were very grateful. After their dinners, their staff returned to the group of huts that essentially had been claimed by Shadow Pond, but kept a discreet distance as it was obvious that Boris and Hank wanted privacy and did not want to be disturbed, nor did they seem to want to leave the hut. 

The air had cooled slightly and smelled of the sea and fragrant tropical flowers. Boris and Hank had since donned light weight cotton shirts and trousers and had not worn shoes since the day before. Lanterns had been brought in to illuminate the space under their hut and they listened to the sound of gentle waves lapping at the shoreline.

Bertram came to the group of huts to formally welcome Boris and Hank to the resort; he shook their hands and studied their faces as he spoke to them. Boris was keenly aware of Bertram’s attentiveness; Hank noticed it, too; they looked at each other with the faintest expressions of wariness. After the two men complimented him on the beautiful resort itself, and the gracious and attentive staff, Bertram asked if there was anything he could do for them.

“Ja, there is something you could arrange for us,” Boris said in a thoughtful tone; Boris had decided to test Bertram.

Hank was sitting on a lounge chair and watched Boris; he didn’t know what Boris was going to say.

“I should like for our dinners to be brought here, to this hut, is that possible?” Boris asked politely but with a tone of voice that everyone in the entourage knew was Boris’ ‘I expect this to happen’ voice. Boris looked at Hank and smiled slightly as he waited for Bertram’s answer.

“Of course, Sir, it would be our pleasure. I shall see it to immediately; please allow a short amount of time for this to be arranged,” Bertram said graciously. 

“Splendid, thank you. Hank, would you like something to snack on whilst we wait for our dinner?” Boris asked because he knew Hank was always hungry.

“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble, I’m pretty hungry right now,” Hank said plainly.

Boris smiled at Hank and nodded his head.

Udo held out an arm toward the buildings to suggest that he and Mr. Bertram walk away from his Masters and then said, “Mr. Bertram, I will accompany you at this time and assist with their dinner choices, please Sir,” Because at that moment, Udo knew that Boris had expected things to happen and happen soon, simply because Hank was hungry and Boris never wanted Hank to wait for his food. Udo could also tell that Boris now wanted their privacy back. (Boris had told Udo that he wanted minimal interaction with other people outside of their entourage during the trip.)

“Yes, of course,” Bertram said as he took the hint, smiled and said, “This way, please, Mr. Udo,” Bertram was also quite accustomed to the needs, mannerisms, and special requests of VIP guests. 

Almost as soon as Bertram and Udo left, it seemed, chilled prawn salads were brought out to the hut along by a small army of staff; and suddenly, too, it seemed that a finely appointed table for two, a wine bucket with a bottle of chilled Veuve Clicquot champagne, more torches and lanterns were set up between their hut and the water’s edge creating a miniature outdoor dining room.

“Ah, very nice,” Boris said in his ‘I am pleased’ voice.

“Really nice,” Said Hank, and then he leaned over to Boris as they took three steps away from the hut to go over to the table and whispered, “Okay, Boris, you’ve seduced me.”

Boris’ smile was wide and his deep laughter was heard by at least ten people. Boris wrapped his arm around Hank’s shoulders and he whispered to Hank, “And it has only taken me nearly a year to completely seduce you…have I lost my touch, Hank?”

“Oh, no, you have not!” Hank said with laughter.

 

Much later, after Boris and Hank settled into their bed together, Hank said, “That was a perfect dinner, Boris! I loved the red snapper. The Chef even came out to the hut to say hello!”

“Such a nice fellow, I enjoyed his food very much, delightful wine…” Boris said with a sleepy voice. He sighed and nuzzled Hank’s neck and promptly fell asleep there, his body relaxed completely.

“What do you want to do tomorrow? Uh, Boris?” Hank asked and then realized his husband had fallen asleep, “Good night, Boris, sleep well, Husband.”

 

~~~

 

Just before dawn, Hank woke Boris and said as he started to dress, “Let’s sneak out and go for a sunrise walk on the beach."

Boris replied as he got out of bed and also quickly got dressed, “It shall be worth risking the wrath of our Arabian Lion (Boris’ code name for Khalil) to experience a sunrise here; however, let us leave a note in case we do not return here in time to NOT be discovered. We do not want to worry them excessively, ja?”

“Okay, good idea,” Hank said as he scribbled a note on the resort’s stationery: 

Udo and Khalil,   
Don’t worry, we’re taking a walk on the beach, will be back soon.   
Hank and Boris

“Can you read this? Is it too messy?” Hank asked.

“Come on, Hank, the sun will not wait for us,” Boris said quietly as he stood in the now open doorway of their suite waiting for Hank.

Hank left the note on the edge of the bed and trotted off to join Boris who was now in the hallway. Neither of them thought to bring a room key or wear shoes or comb their hair…

 

They walked quickly and stopped by the guest lounge area and were delighted to find that coffee was already brewed and ready for guests. The two men each poured themselves a cup of coffee and set out towards the beach.

 

Picture a pale sand beach, flat and smooth; now visualize a ocean beside the beach with not even a ripple on the surface of the water; next, imagine the sun as it began to rise over the island’s horizon and splashed brilliant streaks of magenta, orange, and gold across the clouds and the sky as it changed in color from indigo to blue; and finally, see two men completely alone yet together, as they walked side-by-side, their upper arms touched as they slowly walked along the sand and water line, and each held a white china cup which they sipped from; their heads were either turned towards each other obviously in conversation, or up as they looked at the sky or down at the sand in front of them.

They still stood just above the water’s edge at one moment and looked out over the calm water as they watched the last of the sunset unfold. They had finished their coffee and had held onto the cups because they knew they would walk back to the lounge and get some more. Boris took Hank’s cup and his own and placed them lightly on the sand next to their bare and sandy feet. Hank looked at Boris as he stood back up and their eyes met. 

“I love you, Hank, with all of my heart and essence,” Boris said.

“I love you, Boris, beyond and above the whole world,” Hank said.

And then, out in the open, in front of only sand, sea, and sky, the two men embraced fiercely and passionately.

After a few moments, Boris said, “I care not who sees us at this moment...” and he pulled back to look intently at Hank, placed one hand at the back Hank’s neck and the other on the small of Hank’s back and kissed Hank with great intent.

Hank smiled and did not hesitate nor did he care who saw them as well; he returned Boris’ kiss with equal passion - this moment was only about the two of them. Hank remembered the first time Boris had kissed him and he strengthened his embrace.

 

The resort had security guards who roamed the property in regular intervals and as they traveled in pairs, two of them saw Boris and Hank kiss at the water’s edge. The guards smiled at each other and one said to the other, “It is good that there is love here, you know? The world needs more love.” The other responded with a broad smile and a nod of his head.

 

In a small alcove, just outside of the group of suites that the Shadow Pond entourage occupied, Boris and Hank sat comfortably on two chairs as they enjoyed their second cup of coffee. They had refilled their china cups after they returned from the beach, and talked one of the staff members into finding them a small insulated carafe which they filled with more coffee to bring back to their room with them. The two men’s plan was to sneak back into their suite, sip on more coffee and plan their day. 

They didn’t realize, until they got back to their suite, that neither of them had brought a room key and had to hold in their laughter for fear of waking anyone.

They thought about going to the front desk to ask for another key, but then thought it might take too long, or rouse too much attention – or noise, and then they looked at each other and said as one “We are not dressed…” and tried to laugh quietly again.

Hank whispered to Boris, “We can just wait until Udo comes and checks on us; he’ll have a room key and let us back in. Maybe we can ask him not to tell Khalil.”

Boris whispered, “Ja, it would be better for Udo to discover us and near our suite rather than far away from it.”

So they thought, until the first person of their entourage to come out into the hallway from the suites was not Udo, but Khalil.

“Uh oh,” Hank said.

“Oh, good morning, Khalil. Would you care to join us for coffee? And would you be so kind as to provide us entry into our room?” Boris said plainly.

Khalil stood there in the hallway, arms folded across his brawny chest, and he sighed deeply as he looked at both of them. He truly wanted to be upset with his Masters, but the humorous picture he saw before him effectively evaporated his frustration. His two Masters were quite a sight: both of them were barefooted, dressed in what looked like the same clothing they wore the night before (which was now badly wrinkled) and Hank’s shirt was buttoned incorrectly, the bottoms of their trouser legs were wet and full of sand, their hair was a mess – especially Boris’, and in spite of all of that, they both sat on the alcove chairs and sipped coffee in a very civilized manner from white china cups.

Khalil sighed again and shook his head and did not say a word. He waved them to come to the door to their suite, which he opened with a pass key. 

Boris and Hank looked at each other and smiled; they stood up, Hank grabbed the coffee pot from the little side table between the chairs and the two men walked down the hallway with their china cups, tall and proud as if nothing had happened, past Khalil and into their suite. Hank entered first and Boris and Khalil looked at each other intently, but with a gleam in their eyes that showed that this was just an amusing situation and all would be forgiven…at least for now.

Khalil looked at Hank, too, as Hank turned to see Khalil and Boris lock eyes; Khalil bowed slightly to Hank, and then Khalil closed the door after they had entered the suite. Khalil shook his head once and wished he could drink something stronger than coffee at that moment as he thought, ‘What will those two get into next?’

Boris and Hank went immediately over to the infinity pool, placed their china cups and the carafe on a ledge next to the pool, stripped off their clothes, left them in a pile in the middle of the floor, and entered the water with pleased expressions on their faces. Boris began to chuckle and then so did Hank; they embraced each other and kissed. They playfully moved about in the water together, splashed and dunked each other completely. The play led to extremely wet intimate fun as tumescent urges obviously needed to be sated…

 

A short while later, there was a single knock on the door and Udo entered to find the two of them in the pool. Their hair was soaking wet and Udo saw the pile of clothes on floor.

“Good morning, Udo, is everything all right?” Boris asked as he turned around in the water from where he was in the pool. His arms rested outward from his body on the pool’s edge as he leaned back against the pool's edge and one hand held a china cup from which he sipped. Boris had a highly amused smile on his face and his eyes met Udo’s eyes.

“Hi Udo,” Hank said cheerfully as he finished his coffee and set the cup on the ledge next to the carafe as he looked up at Udo with a big embarrassed grin and hoped that Udo couldn’t see much through the water.

“Oh, good morning, Sirs, I understand that we’ve had an adventure this morning, I hope that it was pleasant,” Udo said respectfully as he stood calmly next to the pile of clothes with his hands clasped in front of him.

“Very nice, Udo, the sunrise was magnificent,” Boris said as he looked at Hank.

“I shall bring your towels and robes now, one moment please,” Udo said as he scooped up their clothes and walked to the bathroom.

“Thanks, Udo!” Hank said happily, then stated, “I’m hungry,” He looked at Boris, “Would you like to get dressed, go to the restaurant and have breakfast?”

Boris had been staring at a painting on the far wall, then looked down at himself in the water, rubbed his whiskered cheek with his free hand, then looked back at Hank with an expression of ‘you have got to be joking’ and said, “No, not unless you have a burning desire to do this. I would prefer our breakfast to be brought here this morning.”

Udo had just returned and he carried an armload of towels and their two robes all of which he neatly placed on a nearby lounge chair near the pool and said, “I have already ordered your breakfast, Sirs,” Udo looked at his watch, “It should be arriving any minute now.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Udo turned and went to the door, opened it and escorted the server with the cart only into the entryway of the suite, so that Boris and Hank could still have their privacy. (After all, they were both still naked in the pool.)

After the server was thanked and left, Udo rolled the cart further into the suite and began to set up their breakfast in the seating area.

“That smells really nice!” Hank said from where he was in the pool, which by now was within an arms’ reach of Boris and Boris placed a hand on Hank’s shoulder.

“Come, let us eat then,” Boris said as he stood up in the water, walked past Hank to the ledge and placed the china cup next to the carafe. The water came up to Boris’ waist and he held onto the railing as he stepped up and out of the pool with smooth graceful movements.

Hank, at first, was a little surprised at Boris to show his full naked body in front of Udo (who seemed to not notice), but then Hank reminded himself that Boris was European and they were generally more open about nudity than self-conscious Americans like himself. Hank thought to himself that Udo had probably seen Boris naked a few times over the years that Udo had served Boris and especially when Udo was caring for Boris when he had become ill. 

Hank then remembered last year when Boris was ill and he had assisted Boris into the soaking tub at home and how suddenly shy Boris had been at those moments; but that was just as he and Boris had become something far more than simply a doctor/friend and a patient/friend. Neither of them had been naked in front of each other at that point in their relationship. Hank attempted to work all of this through in his head when he was interrupted by Boris.

“Would you like me to serve you your breakfast whilst you are in the pool, Hank?” Boris said graciously as he dried himself off with a towel, rubbing every part of his body dry. Boris enjoyed the texture of the towel against his skin.

Hank tried to enjoy watching Boris dry himself (as he usually did, and always happily wished that he was the towel), but he knew Udo was there and the collision of emotions, memories, and thoughts confused Hank.

“Uh no, I’ll come out, um, I’m just gonna soak for a few more minutes,” Hank said somewhat nervously as he stayed in the pool with the water to the middle of his chest.

As Boris put on the robe, closed it and tied the belt, his chin was up and his posture was regal as he looked over at Udo and they smiled slightly at each other. Boris wanted to assure Hank that he didn’t have anything on his body that was different than what he or Udo had, and Boris was quite fond of Hank’s naked body, but then remembered that Hank was American and had most likely become shy about being naked in front of Udo; Boris did not want to embarrass Hank further. Boris walked over to where Udo was to inspect the breakfast service and nodded his approval, “Thank you, Udo, this looks quite nice. Ah, I see star fruit, delightful...”

Udo handed Boris a cup of coffee, paused a moment, looked at Hank who was taking in the scenery and had his back to them, then looked at Boris and said quietly in Russian, “Is he bashful?”

Boris smiled slightly at Udo, sipped his coffee, and replied in Russian, “Da, yes, charmingly so.”

“Well, if everything is to your liking, Sir, I shall leave you to your relaxation. I will check on you in a few hours,” Udo said politely and in English, bowed to both of them and left the suite.

“Thanks, Udo!” Hank said as he turned around in the water and waved to Udo.

Boris put his coffee cup down on the table, walked back over to the steps, picked up a towel and Hank’s robe from the lounge chair, held them and waited for Hank to exit the pool.

“I must say that you are completely adorable when you are shy about something, my beloved One,” Boris said with a loving tone to his voice.

“Oh, yeah, about that…” Hank said as he moved through the water towards the steps and up and out of the pool.

Boris draped Hank’s robe over his shoulder and opened the towel fully to envelope Hank with it and he took the opportunity to embrace Hank. Boris kissed Hank’s temple and held him a moment longer. Hank turned and smiled at Boris and took the towel to dry himself off while Boris unfolded Hank’s robe and held it open for him. Boris wanted to say so much to Hank at this moment, but felt that Hank would feel more uncomfortable and Boris respected Hank too much to put him further into that feeling. Boris decided that this wasn’t something that he could tease Hank about unless Hank gave him permission to do so.

As Boris helped Hank with his robe, he smiled kindly at him and said, “Come with me, the breakfast looks delicious.”

Breakfast was indeed delicious; Hank ate heartily as usual, Boris ate sparingly as usual. Both men were quiet for a few moments as they prepared their plates and sat down to enjoy the food.

“So, yes, I felt a little strange about being naked in front of Udo,” Hank blurted out.

Boris looked at Hank with a calm expression and replied, “I am sorry that you felt that way, perhaps I should have not been so familiar with my mannerisms, then you would have not felt so nervous, please accept my apologies, Hank; I forget sometimes that European and American customs can be so different.”

“It’s okay, Boris, it really is. I always wished that Americans would learn how to not be so uptight about stuff like that, me included. I wonder where that difference comes from,” Hank said as he tried to make himself feel better and took a bite of his toast.

Boris finished swallowing a bite of food and said, “That is a very good question, all I know is that there is a difference between nudity and sexuality. In general, with Europeans, being nude does not automatically lend itself to being sexual, whereas, in general, with Americans it does; neither is right nor wrong, it simply is; truly a mindset difference, ja?” And almost as if Boris had read Hank’s mind, Boris then said, “Udo has seem me naked, especially when I was ill and needed extra care…and I truly needed extra care; Udo has been my nurse and caregiver many times, unfortunate for him - at times…fortunate for me - always.”

“Well, I’ll try to be less nervous next time; ha! I know we’ve all got the same parts! And, I’m a doctor, I’ve seen everything!” Hank said lightly as he began to cheer up.

Boris smiled at Hank and looked at him fondly, “You know, Hank, when I first became interested in you, I tried to analyze how we could get along as we come from different backgrounds and countries and customs. My attraction to you became overpowering and I began to think that whatever differences we would discover about each other would become part of who we would become, and they have, much to my delight. I learn a great deal from you and being with you never fails to cement in my mind that our differences and similarities are exactly perfect just the way they are. I will not attempt to change you; and you do not need to change on my account, but please continue to be the charmingly joyful man that you are.”

Hank smiled widely at Boris and nodded, then sighed deeply and said, “The sunrise was terrific this morning, wasn’t it?”

“It was the best sunrise which I have ever experienced,” Boris said calmly.

 

The two men lounged in their suite for the rest of the day. They did bathe and brushed their teeth and had put on fresh clothing in the late morning. Boris decided he would not shave that day and Hank loved seeing the silver stubble on Boris’ cheeks. Udo checked on them and had chilled local seafood salads, iced tea and slices of coconut frosted cake delivered for their lunches. 

At mid afternoon, just after their coffee service, Boris lounged on the sofa in the seating area and fell asleep. Hank came out of the bath room and almost said something, but then noticed Boris lying there with his eyes closed as a gentle breeze, which came in from the fully open area of their suite, moved a few locks of his silver hair onto his forehead. 

Hank came over, sat down on the coffee table and watched Boris sleep. Dr. Hank watched as Boris appeared to move into REM sleep and he wondered what Boris was dreaming about. Boris’ face was relaxed and Hank saw that Boris’ skin had received some sun the day before, which gave it a slightly bronzed and healthy look. Boris’s breathing changed as he dreamt; his right hand, which was across his shirt at his abdomen, twitched slightly and his left foot moved as well. 

Hank hoped that Boris wasn’t having a nightmare and thought to himself, ‘How could he have a nightmare when these last few days have been so fantastic!’ Hank always worried about Boris’ nightmares because they were horrible and it always involved Boris thrashing around, sweating, calling out, and being in a daze afterwards. Hank would have Boris talk about the nightmares, when Boris could recall them; the dreams’ imagery haunted Boris and it took Boris hours, sometimes days to get over them. Boris hadn’t had a nightmare in quite a while, nor had he experienced any anxiety and Hank was hopeful that all of that awfulness was finally past them.

Boris took a deep breath and mumbled something, his lips barely moved. Hank listened closely and watched him as Boris spoke again and more clearly the second time. Since what Boris said was in several languages, all that Hank could discern was: “…give you the world…”, “…mon bein-amiée…”, and “…lyublyu tebya…serdtsem …”

Hank understood the words in French as ‘my beloved one’ because Boris had called him that several times; the Russian words he didn’t know and since he enjoyed sitting there while he watched Boris nap, Hank didn’t want to get up and try to find his phone to look it up. Hank then thought, ‘Where is my phone?’

Boris lifted his chin and took a deep breath which seemed to wake him. His eyes focused on Hank and he smiled and said, “Ah, there you are, Hank,” Boris sighed, blinked slowly and then asked, “What?”

“I think that someone was having a nice dream,” Hank said with a smile and a smooth voice.

“Ja, very nice indeed, how long have you been sitting there?” Boris asked and rubbed his eyes with one hand.

“Oh, long enough to hear you say some things,” Hank said teasingly.

“What did I say?” Boris asked with a slight smile.

“You said ‘my beloved one’ in French and something in Russian that sounded like ‘serdstem’ or something…”Hank replied and trailed off.

Boris’s smile became wide and his eyes lit up in the process, “Ja, that makes sense,” Boris then chuckled deeply.

“What?” Hank asked as he was very curious now.

Boris raised his arms above his head and stretched himself on the couch, his eyes closed for a moment and the smile remained on his lips.

“Tree, tell me…please?” Hank said with a slight pleading tone as he moved the errant locks of hair away from Boris’ forehead.

Boris reached up, grabbed Hank and said, “Come here,” and pulled Hank to lie along side and slightly on top of him, then wrapped his arms around Hank and held him firmly. They settled on the couch together stretched out comfortably.

Hank moved and tried not to place his knees or elbows anywhere where he would injure Boris, “Gees, you are strong!” Hank exclaimed as he put his head on Boris’ shoulder, “Tree. Please tell me,” Hank said again.

Boris chuckled again, kissed Hank’s hair and then said, “Oh, ja, well, I remember it very clearly. I dreamt that we were on the beach again; the sky was a dark purple in my dream; I remember that I wanted to give you the world and asked if this would do for now; I said that I love you from the bottom of my heart…and, then I made love to you on that beach.”

They looked at each for a moment, wicked expressions dawned on their faces, and then they shook their heads and laughed together.

“We would NEVER be able to explain that one away!” Hank said happily.

“Ha! And you thought that you were embarrassed earlier today, Hank!” Boris chuckled deeply. 

 

~~~

 

During breakfast in the Jade Cuisine Restaurant the next day, Boris asked Hank with all seriousness, “Have you ever had a mud bath, Hank?”

Hank swallowed hard and coughed loudly, which alerted Udo, Jacob and Yussef to all look in their direction. They looked at Hank with concern; he saw this, held out his hand and shook his head.

“Excuse me, a what?” Hank said and took a drink of his soursop juice.

“A mud bath,” Boris said simply as he spread papaya puree on a small piece of brown bread.

“Uh, no, I haven’t had a mud bath, Boris. Have you?” Hank asked.

“Ja, several times, it is truly wonderful for the skin,” Boris said happily.

“Okay, what’s your plan?” Hank said as he almost took a bite of his scrambled eggs but then thought he should wait because Boris might say something unique that would make him choke again, so he put his fork down on the plate.

“If we can talk Udo and Khalil into allowing us to go the Sulphur Springs area where the Soufriere Volcano is, we could enjoy a mud bath and then a rinse under the water falls. Sounds nice, ja?” Boris said innocently, “We can also take a walking tour of the volcano if you are interested.”

“Okay…” Hank said nervously.

“It is only a twenty to thirty minute drive from here and yes, they will say it is a tourist attraction and that WE are not tourists, but I think it would be an interesting experience for both of us, together,” Boris said proudly.

“We are going to put Khalil in the hospital for sure on this one,” Hank said and quickly took a bite of food.

 

~~~

 

After negotiations that would have impressed the United Nations, Boris and Hank were driven the next day to the Soufriere Volcano. Generally, tours to this area were typically groups from cruise ships and resorts and so special arrangements were made by Udo and Khalil to secure a specialized tour for the men with their individual guide. Khalil insisted that he, Yussef and Udo, accompany the men on this excursion with Anton as their driver in one of the SUV’s. Khalil felt that a usual caravan of three cars would attract too much attention at such a public spot.

They prepared for the day and brought changes of clothing, towels, and swim suits; only Boris and Hank would be mud bathing and spend time in the waterfall pool, and the four members of their security (including Udo) would be close by and ‘seen but unseen’. Hank began to get very excited about this adventure as this was something completely new and different and that they would be out in the open. Boris was amused at Hank’s enthusiasm, Udo’s circumspection and Khalil’s just-barely-hidden annoyance with what he thought was a blatant disregard for their safety; Anton and Yussef were on high alert and tried to assure Khalil that “…they had this…”

The volcano walking tour was interesting and their guide Chloe was delightful, but what Boris had come for was the mud bath. He recalled fondly the last time he took a mud bath and it was on a trip to Hell’s Gate in New Zealand. Since Boris seemed to be always on the ‘cool side’, the immersion into a geothermal mud pit made what he said, “…his bones feel miraculously warm…”

After they changed into their swim suits, Boris and Hank entered the pit and slowly sunk into the warm mud; Boris regaled his time at Hell’s Gate with Hank and tried to make sure that Hank was having a wonderful time as he explained some of the positive healthful aspects of mud bathing. As Boris smoothed the warm, silky, grey mud over Hank’s shoulders, Boris told Hank a story that he had read about something that happened at Lake Techirghiol in Romania, another mud bath area of the world, but surprisingly one that Boris had not been to...yet.

Boris said, “Legend has it, Hank, that an old blind man and his ageing donkey walked into the mud of that brackish lake by accident one day. Though the old man pushed and pulled for hours, the donkey refused to budge, until suddenly the old man’s eyesight was restored and the wise donkey emerged from the mud, its body younger than ever.”

“That’s wild, Boris, and this is amazing!” Hank said as he motioned for Boris to turn around so that he could smooth the mud onto Boris’ shoulders.

The two men enjoyed the warm mud completely and the act of smoothing mud on each other was very pleasurable. 

After a bit of silliness which involved a lot of mud on their faces and in their hair (read: Boris’ long hair sticking straight up and outward because of dried mud), Hank couldn’t look at Boris without laughing hysterically because Boris looked so ridiculous with his hair in that state. As they were both covered from head to foot in grey mud, they looked like stone statues and Hank play acted that he was. 

(Khalil, Udo, and Yussef lost their composure completely at one point because Boris stood there covered in mud, and he turned quickly around which flung mud everywhere and onto everyone as he exclaimed, “Where is my tie?!”)

Boris’ hair event inspired some of the other tourists to do the same and soon many people were laughing and pointing at one another and their mud hair styles; the ‘mohawk’ was the most popular mud hair style that day.

They decided it was then time to wash off the mud in the warm geothermal pond which was fed by a large waterfall and neither of the men could decide what felt better: mud going onto their bodies or mud washing off of their bodies. 

Hank said, “This is all good,” As he dipped below the surface of the warm water to rinse off completely, the mud swirled off of his body and head and the sediment fell to the pond floor. Boris did the same and Hank starred at Boris when he rose up from the water and was free of mud, his silver hair was wet and hanging down on his face, Hank pointed at Boris and asked, “Do I know you?”

Khalil had made them promise that they would take turns going underwater and had to stay near one another so that he, Udo, and Yussef could keep tabs on them. Khalil had brought his micro-binoculars and used them to scan the crowd and surrounding area for potential trouble. 

As the afternoon progressed, more tourists came to the site and so Khalil, Udo and Yussef had a bit more work to watch for Boris and Hank through the increasing numbers of people.

If there is a waterfall, one has to explore the waterfall and what is behind the waterfall. 

This gave the two men an idea and when there was a sudden influx of tourists into the pond, Hank mischievously grabbed Boris by the arm and pulled him quickly behind the falling wall of water, embraced him and kissed him fully. Of course, Boris didn’t object to any of this and embraced and kissed Hank in return. When they were still in the embrace, they turned and looked at two other couples, also in embraces, who looked back at them – a man and a woman, and two women – who had basically done the exact same thing at the exact same time that Boris and Hank had done. All six people behind the waterfall laughed loudly, smiled and waved to one another.

“We should best get back in plain sight!” Boris yelled above the sound of waterfall.

The two men walked through the cascade, bent their heads against the onslaught of the water, and squinted across the wide pond to see their three staff energetically waving to them. They waved back and started to walk through the water in the pond slowly back to where Khalil, Udo, and Yussef were, as they knew that it was the end of the excursion.

“Do you think we’re in trouble?” Hank asked before he dunked himself once more in the water.

“Oh, most certainly; but Hank,” Boris said, smiled and briefly he grasped Hank’s upper arm, “That was a grand bit of fun, ja?”

“Yeah, it really was,” Hank said as he too held Boris’ upper arm and smiled.

Udo and Yussef bowed slightly as they held out towels to Boris and Hank as they walked out of the pond smiling. Khalil held the satchels which contained their clothing changes and he didn’t smile. 

As they towelled themselves dry, Boris held up a hand at Khalil and said seriously, “Please do not be upset with us, Khalil, Hank had slipped behind the waterfall and I went to retrieve him; we were both in no danger at all.”

Khalil grunted as they followed the men to the changing rooms. Yussef checked the dressing area and declared a manageable section of it empty and safe so he and Khalil stood guard. Udo assisted the men and provided them with their clothes and shoes.

 

Later that night, after a fine dinner of grilled white marlin and dorado freshly caught that day, a myriad of roasted vegetables from the resort’s Emerald Farm, and artisanal chocolate desserts from chocolate harvested and made at the resort’s kitchens, Boris and Hank settled back into their suite each with a glass of Crystal Lime Rum Liqueur, a rum distilled on St. Lucia. Hank tried to read the bottle’s label in the candlelight and gave up, blew out the candle and their eyes adjusted to the star light.

They sat in an outdoor seating area of the suite and gazed out at the stars. The night was clear and warm and the ever-present breeze filtered through. There were no lights on the Pitons Mountains and no lights out at sea, so it felt as if they were sitting on the edge of the world.

After two glasses of the liqueur, Boris said, “I cannot drink any more of that delightful rum; if I do, I shall be worthless.”

“Boris, this has been such a terrific day. The mud bath was more fun that I could ever imagine that to be, thank you, um...” Hank trailed off.

“What were you going to say, my beloved One?” Boris asked gently.

“I was just thinking about your dream and how you wanted to give me the world. You know that you already do that, right?” Hank said sincerely.

“I am happy to hear that you believe this; I do try my best,” Boris said and he smiled at Hank. There was only one small light on in the suite, next to Hank’s side of the bed as always, and in that soft light Boris admired Hank’s returned smile.

Boris finished his rum and Hank did as well. They stood up and walked over to the bed and helped each other out of their clothes. As they climbed into bed and became comfortably entwined with each other, Boris asked, “May I recite a poem to you, Hank?” 

“Of course, who wrote the poem?” Hank asked gently.

Boris replied as he started to kiss Hank in between each of the sentences, “Her name was Elizabeth Barrett Browning and she lived in the early 1800’s. Perhaps you have heard of it? ‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of everyday’s most quiet need, by sun and candlelight…’”

At that moment, Hank interrupted Boris with a very passionate kiss and he eased Boris’s head down onto the pillow.

Boris then rolled Hank onto his back and from on top of Hank, Boris now looked down into Hank’s eyes and bent his head to kiss Hank; and then all talking ceased…

 

~~~

 

For their last full day in St. Lucia, Boris and Hank decided that they wanted to ‘live’ at the beach. They had come to St. Lucia to be on the beach and that is where they were going to be: all...day...long, from before sunrise to after sunset.

At one a.m., they awoke, dressed in shirts and trousers, grabbed two pillows, two blankets, a room key (Boris remembered this time), their sunglasses and bathing suits, two towels, the bowl of fruit and a large bottle of water. This time, Boris wrote the note: 

Dear Udo and Khalil;   
Do not worry about us, we are safe and you shall find us at the hut.   
With Regards, Boris and Hank.

Boris placed the note between the door and the frame just above the door knob so that either of them would see it immediately and he placed it with the hope that it would lessen their worry. Boris and Hank looked at each other and knew they had the same thoughts: their staff would worry anyway and the two of them were in trouble. Then, they slyly smiled at each other and left their room silently.

The two men carried everything in the blankets and slung the bundles over their shoulders and quietly made their way through the resort grounds, past the swimming pools, outdoor bars, and sculptures, across the lawn and down the beach to ‘their hut’ – as they had come to name it. There was no one anywhere to be seen outside on the resort property.

The torches that the resort staff placed along the water’s edge on a nightly basis were just beginning to fade and so the two men gathered up a few and moved them to illuminate the area around the hut. They knew that they would lose the torch light soon, so they worked quickly to arrange their things and moved two of the heavy wooden lounge chairs and the cushions side-by-side, which effectively made an outdoor bed for two people. They surveyed their hut and were pleased; the two men settled in together on the pillows and cushions and were covered comfortably by the blankets. 

“You’re not cold, are you, Boris?” Hank asked, just as the last of the torches went out. There was a slight breeze which came off of the water and Hank was concerned.

“No, my beloved One; the excitement of our adventure here, and you, are keeping me quite warm just now,” Boris replied as he was quite happy to have Hank in his arms and for them to have spirited themselves away to this private place that they had created together.

“WE are in so much trouble,” Hank said with amazement.

“Oh, indeed, we shall be,” Boris said without remorse.

Their eyes began to grow accustomed to star light and as some clouds moved, a waning crescent moon brightened the beach. Both men made the sound of ‘aaah’ at the same time because the sand on the beach now appeared to glow.

Boris hugged Hank tightly and Hank returned the embrace, Boris said, “I am attempting to describe this trip and find that words like ‘glorious’ and ‘magnificent’ pale in comparison to the true feeling I am experiencing.”

Hank said, from where he had his head on Boris’ shoulder, “How about ‘perfect’?”

“Quite appropriate,” Boris said quietly, “Did you see the resort security guards on their rounds?”

“I did; we’ll have to use that as ammunition when we are discovered by Khalil and Udo; knowing there are guards around might make them feel that we were more safe out here,” Hank said with an amused tone of voice.

“Ja, we shall beg forgiveness and...” Boris stopped and looked up, “Ah, good morning, gentlemen, my husband and I hope that we are not disturbing anything.”

The two resort guards had followed and watched Boris and Hank set up their hut and thought they should properly introduce themselves, so at the moment that Boris spoke about forgiveness, they arrived at the hut and turned on a flashlight but kept it politely angled at the ground and away so that it wasn’t shining in anyone’s eyes.

Both guards were well aware of every guest at Jade Mountain at any given moment, and knew that Boris and Hank were the current VIP’s on property; they had also spoken with Khalil and he had warned them that his charges might get ‘creative’ during their stay.

“Uh, hi, guys, how are you?” Hank said as he sat up and looked at them with a wary but friendly expression.

“Good evening, Sirs, please forgive our intrusion. My name is Pierre and this is my associate, Ronald. We are pleased to make your acquaintance,” Pierre replied with a sincere smile and a slight bow.

Boris remained in his lounging position and said in a diplomatic voice, “I am Boris and this is Hank; thank you for checking on us; we apologize if we have broken any resort rules by setting up camp here.”

Ronald also slightly bowed and then said, “Well, Sir, it is not customary for our guests to sleep on the beach, however, we have made exceptions before. We hope that your sanctuary is sufficient and that you’re not here because there is something unpleasant there.”

“Oh, no, our sanctuary is really perfect; we, uh, just wanted to spend lots on time on the beach. We live up north and it’s really cold there right now,” Hank said with a lot of charm.

Pierre replied, “I understand; I went to New York for Christmas once, never again.”

Everyone chuckled at that comment.

Pierre continued, “Well, everything looks in order; you’ve got quite a set-up here. Is there anything that we can do for you at this moment?”

Boris was thinking: ‘You could leave us alone because I should like to make love to my husband right now,’ but what Boris said was, “Thank you, Pierre and Ronald, I believe we are fine at the moment; we appreciate your consideration and your efforts regarding our safety.”

Hank nodded, smiled and asked, “Do we have to worry about any wild animals roaming around or anything?”

Ronald said, “No, Sir, there is nothing to worry about on this side of the island, but in the drier areas of the island in the east, we have boas and fer-de-lances, and those snakes are dangerous,” He looked kindly at Boris and Hank and then said, “I would stay out of the water though; the ocean is a whole ‘nother world.”

“Thank you, Ronald, we shall take your advice and remain where we are,” Boris said sincerely. 

Pierre then handed a small radio to Hank and said as he looked at Hank and then at Boris, “If you do need anything, or any help, just push the talk button on this walkie-talkie, and we’ll be right over. Hey, Ronald, I think it’s time that we should go on the opposite side of the resort and do our rounds there now.”

Ronald took the hint, nodded his head and replied, “Uh, yes, that side always takes a little longer to cover doesn’t it? Good night, gentlemen…”

Pierre nodded and said, “Good night, sirs.”

Boris and Hank together said, “Good night.”

Pierre flicked off the flashlight and they walked away in silence.

“Wow,” Hank said.

“Quite upstanding fellows,” Boris replied, “Now, where were we?” And Boris motioned to Hank to lie back down and get comfortable next to him again.

Hank rearranged the light-weight blankets and spread them across their feet, legs and up to their waists.

Both men were quiet for a many moments as they enjoyed the silence of the outside, the moonlight shining on the sand, the fresh night air, their cozy hut and holding onto one another.

“Hmmm,” Boris said.

“What are you thinking about?” Hank asked.

“I want to throw caution completely to the wind and do something at this moment…” Boris said.

Hank interrupted him, “No, Boris, we are not going swimming.”

“No, my beloved One, that is not what I was thinking about,” Boris said in a silky voice.

“Really? Here? Now?” Hank said and almost sat up again, but Boris held Hank firmly against his side and chest with both of his arms.

“Well, yes, however, my rational side tells me that I am foolish to desire this,” Boris said with a little sadness in his voice, “It is also very selfish of me as I have not taken into consideration how you would feel about it.”

Hank nuzzled Boris’ neck and said quietly, “There is a part of me that wants to make love to you right now, too. This is a really special time we have together, but, I only want us to be completely comfortable, completely safe, and completely alone when we have our private time, you know? You and I being out here is pushing the envelope a little more than I am comfortable with. Yeah, we could probably manage it and it would be wild and quick, I’m sure, but…”

Boris caressed Hank’s hair and replied, “I know and understand what you say and it is reasonable and correct; please forgive my impetuousness, I am not being responsible. You are always the responsible one of the two of us, ja?”

“There’s nothing to forgive, Tree, I know how passionate you are and I never want you to hold that back with me. There are no regrets at all. We’re going enjoy our hut and the sunrise, and the day and the sunset and then when we’re done out here and go back to our sanctuary tonight, then all bets are off, okay?” Hank said and then he moved to hold Boris’ face with his hands and kissed him eagerly; Boris responded in kind.

After many moments of this intensity, Boris said somewhat breathlessly, “We had better stop this pleasantness now, my beloved One, or I shall not be accountable for my actions…oh, good lord, how you stir me up…”

Hank chuckled and relaxed into Boris’ embrace and said quietly, “Come on, let’s get some sleep now. We’re going to need our strength to defend ourselves when Khalil finds out that we’re out here.”

 

At 3:30 a.m., Pierre and Ronald checked on the occupied hut and found the two men asleep. The guards nodded to each other and walked quietly away.

 

Udo looked down at his two sleeping Masters and smiled to himself. He had awakened at about five a.m. and went to check on them in their suite, found the note, retrieved the small flashlight that he carried in his excursion satchel, and went directly to the hut. Shielding the light so that he could see just enough and not disturb them, Udo saw that they had brought all sorts of things with them and were now sleeping soundly and apparently very comfortably, holding one another as they reclined on the lounge chairs. He turned and returned to the resort building, silently re-entering the suite that he occupied so that he wouldn’t wake Khalil and Yussef. Udo reset his alarm for 6:30 a.m. so that he could quickly dress and deliver a coffee service for them.


	20. Repose, Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The definition of repose is: a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility...however, sometimes Boris and Hank must work awfully hard to get to that point.

Just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Boris awoke and had to take a moment to recall where he was, or where they were, for that matter. Then he grinned widely and felt Hank next to him. Boris looked around and in the dim light it appeared that they were still the only people on the beach.

“Hank, my love, it is near to dawn,” Boris whispered, “We cannot miss this event.”

Hank mumbled something and then he, too, took a moment to remember where he was and where they were. Hank smiled, turned his head and looked up at Boris.

Hank moved slightly so that he could kiss Boris and they both whispered ‘good morning’ to each other at the same time. They spoke softly because they didn’t want to break the stillness of the pre-dawn air.

 

A short while later (they were still sleepy), but they were very happy that they had been able to view the sunrise together. They drank some water from the bottle they had brought with them and then shifted their positions on the lounge chairs; they re-arranged the blankets and now Boris’ head was on Hank’s shoulder. Boris drifted back into sleep; Hank stared out across the ocean and his eyes closed for what seemed to be only a moment. 

When Hank opened his eyes, he looked up to see that Udo had walked up to their location and he carried a tray with a carafe and two coffee cups. Udo had a slight smile on his face and Hank smiled back. They both looked at the sleeping Boris and nodded their heads.

Udo set the tray down at the end of one of the lounge chairs and whispered, “Shall I pour a cup for you, Dr. Hank?”

“Sure, Udo, I’d love some coffee, thanks,” Hank whispered back.

Boris, his eyes were still closed, murmured from where his head was on Hank’s shoulder, “Coffee is always necessary, Hank, please give me a moment to awaken and I shall get us some…” Then Boris opened his eyes and saw Udo, the tray and the coffee.

Boris said, “Ah, all right, er, good morning, Udo.”

“Good morning, Master, here is your coffee,” Udo said pleasantly as he handed each of them a cup of coffee.

Boris blinked, sat up slowly, rubbed his eyes, looked around, and took the cup from Udo. Boris took a sip of coffee and grinned, then he turned and looked at Hank and said, “And good morning again to you, Hank.”

Hank nodded as he drank from his coffee cup.

“I trust you both slept well out in the open air?” Udo said pleasantly.

“It was great,” Hank said as he sat up a little straighter now that Boris’ head wasn’t on his shoulder.

Boris was still quite sleepy, “Hmmm, refreshing…why is not Khalil here yet to scold us?”

Hank said, “Give him some time, and don’t rush things.”

Udo smiled and didn’t tell the two men that he had already spoken to Khalil about their ‘overnight hut adventure’ (Udo’s words) and assured him that they were fine. Udo told Khalil that he had checked on them during the night. Khalil immediately spoke with the resort’s security and learned that they had kept an eye on the Masters overnight and that all was well. 

“What are your plans for today, Sirs?” Udo asked politely.

Hank announced and he pointed to the ground with his pointer finger, “We’re going to spend the whole day right here until after sunset,” Then Hank became uncertain and asked, “Why are you asking, are we supposed to be doing something else?”

Boris was still trying to wake up and had not said anything; he drank from, and held his coffee cup at his lips and appeared to be breathing in the steam that rose from the cup; he stared out with half-open eyes out across the water.

“The only thing that was on your itinerary for today was the champagne sunset sailing; do you still wish to attend that?” Udo asked.

Hank looked at Boris and asked, “What do you think?”

“Ah, well, ja, that sounds, I suppose, fine…” Boris said tentatively, his eyes were still half open, “Would you gentlemen mind if I could simply have one more hour of sleep? After that, I should be able to answer any question posed of me…” Boris handed his emptied cup back to Udo and laid his head back down on the pillow and promptly fell asleep.

Hank and Udo looked at each other and smiled. Hank stood up from the lounge chair and stretched and then he said quietly, “So, as I said, our plan today, Udo, was that we wanted to spend the entire day on the beach, all of our meals and beverages brought here. After he wakes up and we get some breakfast in him, we’ll decide about the sailing, okay?” 

“Of course, Dr. Hank, it is your holiday, you can do whatever makes you happy,” Udo said pleasantly, “I shall arrange for your breakfast now, will that be all right?”

“Yeah, great idea,” Hank said with a wide smile; he nodded to Udo as Udo bowed slightly, turned and left. Hank looked back down at the sleeping Boris as he refreshed the coffee in his cup. Hank made sure that Boris was covered with one of the blankets. Hank looked around, saw that no one was around, and lightly kissed Boris on his head. Hank stood up and looked out at the water for a few moments as he drank his coffee and he felt satisfied at how the day had begun for them.

Hank then peeled an orange that he had retrieved from the fruit bowl and looked up to see Khalil as he walked in their direction. Hank said quietly to himself, “Uh oh,” And looked down at Boris who was still asleep. Hank took his orange and walked to meet Khalil a little ways away from the hut so that they could talk without waking Boris.

“Good morning, Khalil, how are you today?” Hank said cheerfully and offered half of his orange to Khalil.

“Good morning, Dr. Hank, I am well and you?” Khalil asked and accepted the orange, “Thank you. How is the Master?” Khalil started to look around Hank to look at Boris.

Hank moved aside so that Khalil could see Boris lying asleep on the lounge chair and said innocently, “I’m great. He’s fine, too, and asleep right now, we were up pretty late.”

“I see,” Khalil said flatly but appeared satisfied that he could see Boris.

“Please don’t be angry with us, Khalil, we just wanted to spend the entire day on the beach today. The resort guards came by and checked on us just after we got settled in the hut and they said it was okay for us to camp here. They even gave us a little radio to call them if we needed help,” Hank said pleasantly as he tried to smooth things over with Khalil.

Khalil knew the guards had checked again on them after that, and that Udo had done the same, but he didn’t tell Hank any of this. Khalil nodded and smiled slightly, then said, “I only wish to make sure that the two of you are always safe and always sound; it is my duty, Dr. Hank and I take my duty with extreme seriousness.”

“I know that, and Boris knows that, too, Khalil, and I hope you know that we are really grateful to you and for everything that you and your team does for us. Yeah, we’ve been a couple of troublemakers on this trip, I know, um, this winter has made us a little crazy, I think, we just wanted to break out. I’m sorry if we caused you and the team any grief,” Hank said sincerely and smiled.

“Please tell me, at least, that you have both enjoyed yourselves,” Khalil asked as he ate the orange pieces.

“Oh, gees, yes, we have!” Hank said enthusiastically as he, too, ate some of the orange.

“Good, then all of this was worth it. I should like to ask you, Dr. Hank, please tell me with all honesty…the Master, is He completely healthy, now? I worry about Him…constantly,” Khalil asked this with true concern; Boris’ continued illness and obvious anguish over the past few years, and especially during the previous year, had worried Khalil to the point of distraction. Khalil held Boris in the highest regard above anyone else in the world and to see the pain that Boris went through was mind boggling to Khalil. The fact that Dr. Hank had then come into Boris’ life was a miracle to Khalil and Khalil was relieved at how Dr. Hank seemed to have turned everything around towards the positive. Khalil believed that Dr. Hank had brought something else to Shadow Pond, something that was needed and that was a greater sense of cohesion; and now Dr. Hank was with Boris in that level of Khalil’s highest regard.

“Yeah,” Hank said as he looked over at Boris, then turned back to Khalil and put a hand on Khalil’s shoulder, “He’s in a really good spot right now, health-wise. We just have to be vigilant because it could slip back at any time; that’s just the way things are for him. It’s taken a while, but he is doing very well.”

Khalil smiled and nodded his head, “I am glad to hear of this, Dr. Hank. He is an extraordinary man; he should never have to suffer, but he does. I suppose it is the price one inadvertently pays to be extraordinary,” Khalil paused, “And you, Dr. Hank, you are a rare and remarkable man, yourself, Sir; I am very proud to serve you both…” Khalil bowed his head and continued, “So, you will both be at the hut all day?”

“Thanks, Khalil,” Hank replied shyly, “Um, I think so, that is our current plan; we’ll have to see if Boris wants to change the plan in any way,” Hank said as he finished his orange.

 

Breakfast was delivered and Hank was so hungry that he started to eat. Boris looked comfortable and Hank didn’t have the heart to wake him, but then Boris smelled the food and woke up on his own. From where his head was on the pillow, Boris opened his eyes and asked Hank, “What did they bring us? It smells delightful,” Boris then sat up, dragged his hands through his hair and smiled at Hank.

After breakfast and more coffee, Boris announced that he wanted to swim in the ocean; he was quite awake now and ready for their day. Near to the hut was a small private tent which served as a changing room for guests who utilized the huts. Anton checked it to make sure it was safe to use and the men took turns and they changed into their swim suits.

Boris looked at Hank with an amused expression and said, “Yes, Hank, I shall use the tent to change into my swim suit.”

Hank feigned an enormous amount of relief (although some of it was real) and said, “Thank you! I thought you were going to go all European-naked-in-public on me!”

 

When one walked out into the water on that beach, the slope was long and sandy, and one would be quite a distance from the shoreline before the water even came up to one’s waist. 

Boris and Hank were out in the water and since there was a three inch height difference between the two of them, they were in the water to where Hank felt comfortable at first with the level at just at the middle of his chest. Boris bent his knees a little bit to be in the water at the same level. The two men were yards out into the water and Khalil had to use his micro-binoculars to (respectively) watch them.

The ocean water refreshed them and it was still a little cool from the night, but they could feel the water was warming up. The two men looked back at the shoreline and saw their staff moving about the huts – Udo had again reserved the other surrounding huts so that the whole team could enjoy another day at the beach and keep a watch on the two Masters. 

Boris and Hank enjoyed their privacy out in the water and now only their heads and shoulders showed. They talked and commented on how private it felt; the water they were surrounded by seemed to absorb any sound. They swam around and under the water (separately as they had promised) and looked around and across the still ocean. The two men stayed in the water for a long while until the sun began to feel more intense as it became nearly noon and Hank was concerned about them getting sunburned; so they walked slowly to the shoreline so that they could dry off and relax in the shade of the hut. 

By this time, several groups of resort guests had come to the beach, settled in, and either lounged in other huts or swam in the water. The sight of two handsome men walking slowly out of the water attracted the attention of several people, especially a couple of women who were just down the beach. (Boris and Hank were both wearing form-fitting, dark-toned, square cut swim shorts and what they saw was one man who was tall, lean and mature and the other man who was muscular, with a dark beard, dark hair and a brilliant smile.) 

A couple of men, whom one could presume were with the women, appeared to become jealous of situation and made obvious motions to redirect the women’s attention back at themselves. 

From the women’s points of view from several huts down, they watched the muscular, dark-haired man as he said something to the tall, lean man, which made the tall man laugh heartily and he placed his hand on the muscular man’s upper arm in an obviously affectionate manner, which was then reciprocated by the muscular man. The women, who had been intently watching Boris and Hank, now looked at each other, their shoulders sagged slightly and they shook their heads in disappointment; the men whom the women were with were obviously pleased at this development.

Udo met Boris and Hank just above the water’s edge and handed them towels. He bowed slightly to them and said, “There is fresh iced tea for you, Sirs, and lunch should be arriving soon.”

“Thanks, Udo!” Hank said with enthusiasm.

Boris nodded and smiled his approval. 

They dried off, put on short-sleeved camp shirts but kept them unbuttoned, stayed in their swim suits and sat down to lounge on the chairs, which were still next to each other. The stretched out their legs and enjoyed the breeze from the ocean as it cooled them.

After lunch of Roasted Creole Chicken, Chilled Herbed Pasta Salad and Tropical Fruit Sorbet, Hank fell asleep on the lounge chair. Boris made sure Hank was comfortable and then walked over to the other huts to converse with the Shadow Pond staff. Boris wanted to learn about what the staff had done during the trip as he and Hank had encouraged all of them to enjoy themselves as much as they could. They expressed their gratitude at the kindness that they were shown by the Masters at this and even Khalil admitted that sitting on the beach in the shade while on duty was not such a bad thing and everyone chuckled at that comment.

Boris returned to their hut, sat down with a glass of iced tea in his hand; he sipped on the tea as he watched Hank sleep. He smiled slightly as he admired Hank and although Boris felt a little sad that they were going home the next day, he felt even happier about the way the trip had unfolded and was quite amused at the undisciplined things that he and Hank had done.

Hank awoke after a short while to see Boris’ watching him with a pleased expression and he smiled at Boris.

“Did you sleep well, my beloved One?” Boris asked in his deep voice.

“Really well,” Hank replied and stretched himself out fully on the lounge chair.

“Thirsty?” Boris asked and he placed his hand on Hank’s thigh.

Hank nodded and sat up.

“Allow me,” Boris said as he stood up, poured and handed the glass of tea to Hank.

As Boris sat back down, he asked, “What would you like to do for the rest of the day?”

Hank drank his tea and became thoughtful. He looked out over the water and back up at Boris; then after a moment, he said, “A long walk on the beach, a shower, fresh clothes, an early dinner in the restaurant and the champagne sunset sail. Oh! And then,” He leaned over to Boris, smiled slyly and whispered in Boris’ ear as he placed his hand on Boris’ knee, “Lots of private time in our suite until we fall asleep.”

Boris smiled fully and his eyes lit up, which of course, pleased Hank completely.

 

Their walk on the Anse Chastanet Beach, from where their hut was located at the one end of the beach, to the other end of the beach was only one quarter of a mile in length and they were shadowed by Jon Michel and Anton during their walk; Boris and Hank walked to the end of the beach and back and they walked slowly as they absorbed every moment because they knew it would be a while before they would get to walk on any beach again anytime soon. 

Boris said quietly as he was somewhat thinking out loud, “I am almost tempted for us to stay here a few more days…”

Hank looked up quickly at Boris and said, “Really? Let’s think about that first, okay?”

 

Later, during their shower, Hank laughingly said, “Hey, Boris, I think I have sand in places that I didn’t think were places!”

Boris teased, “Here, permit me to assist you with all of those places…” And he took delight in moving a large, soaped-up natural sponge over Hank’s body.

While they dressed for dinner, Boris commented on how different it felt to wear shoes. (They had not worn shoes since they arrived and it appeared that that was what every guest did at the resort.) Boris said, “I shall be somewhat unhappy when I must don my heavy winter boots once again…”

Dinner at Jade Cuisine, the resort's restaurant, was touted as ‘…a delicious tropical love affair with food in a sweet, spicy and aromatic harmony…’ and it was. Boris announced that their meals were sublime and they complimented the Chef when he visited them at their table. Their dinner consisted of Herbed Yellow Fin Tuna en Papillote, Cane-Sweetened Black Sticky Rice and Steamed Root Vegetables from the resort’s Emerald Farm. Hank was amazed as they brought out their dishes; the fish was encased in a type of large paper wrapper and placed before them. (The fish had been cooked inside the paper wrapper.) When the server cut the paper open, the fragrance of the fish and herbs wafted upward so that they could enjoy the taste of the dish by first smelling it before actually eating it. Boris had experienced a meal like this several times and smiled widely at Hank’s wonderment of the presentation and was happy that yet another enjoyable culinary adventure had unfolded for his Husband.

Boris had been tentative about taking the sunset cruise because they would be on board the resort’s sixty foot catamaran, the ‘Lucky T’, with other people, but since Hank was excited that there would be live jazz music, Boris agreed to the activity. Yussef and Jon Michel went aboard with them and found an area on the ship where they were out of the way and had a good view of most of the ship and the guests on board. Khalil knew the Yussef and Jon Michel were the best swimmers in the entourage and he sent them just in case the Masters fell overboard.

At sunset, as romantic jazz music played in the background and champagne was enjoyed, Boris and Hank stood together at the railing and watched the sky change. The two men toasted “the beach” and looked at each other with great fondness; both men wished (and commented to each other quietly) that they would have enjoyed the opportunity to embrace each other at that moment, but there were too many people around for them to feel comfortable enough to do that. 

Boris wanted minimal contact with other guests during this trip to start off with and he thought to himself that when next he and Hank returned to this resort, they would reserve the catamaran all to themselves for one sunset cruise and then he would be able to embrace his husband as he had wanted to, and alone, as they watched the sun go down. Boris looked at Hank and saw that Hank enjoyed being around other people (it was a crowd to Boris), so Boris reminded himself that being around people was what Hank was accustomed to and he resolved to better understand and accommodate Hank’s needs.

By chance, the two women who had been on the beach and admired Boris and Hank as they walked out of the water were also on the cruise; the women watched them and their interest grew once again. The women seemed to have completely forgotten about when they saw Boris and Hank touch each other affectionately on their arms. 

Both women commented to each other quietly about how even more handsome Boris and Hank were now that the women were closer to them. The blonde woman said she found Boris’ firm jaw line and silver hair to be his best features, and the black-haired woman became enamored with Hank’s smile and blue eyes. The champagne served to everyone on board had made the women a little less inhibited (they may have had a little too much champagne) and they shared with each other what pleasures they would take with Boris and Hank; the women agreed that if they both ever got their way with Boris and Hank, the women would ‘share the men’ with one another as well, and then laughed. 

The two women attempted to build up their courage to go up to and speak to Boris and Hank; but all the women could manage was to inch their way closer on deck to them and admire them. The women did not know that they were being watched by Yussef and Jon Michel who had moved in closer to Boris’ and Hank’s position on the deck...just in case.

The women were much too giddy and also didn’t notice that Boris and Hank wore (their) matching rings even though the men held their champagne glasses with the respective hands that the rings were on (something that Boris and Hank did whenever the opportunity arose; Hank called it one of ‘their things’) and this mannerism showed the rings off quite clearly to all who looked in their direction; the rings were also quite obvious because of their size and because of the size of the diamonds within the rings.

Hank turned slightly, stretched his neck and said softly into Boris’ ear, “Thank you for doing this with me, Boris; I’m really enjoying the music, the sunset and being here with you. This would be a great time to hug each other, but don’t worry, I’m all yours when we get back to our sanctuary tonight.”

Boris leaned his head over and down slightly to whisper into Hank’s ear, “You are most welcome, Hank, I am pleased that you are enjoying this and I will be yours as well,” And just as a small wave made the catamaran sway, Boris’ lips inadvertently touched Hank’s ear. At that moment, Boris grasped Hank’s arm with his free hand to steady them both and the energy that flowed between them was high. 

The two men pulled away slightly and looked at each other intently and held their breath for a moment.

The two women saw this interaction, looked at each other, shook their heads in now grave disappointment, sighed and then turned to re-join their male companions who were obviously annoyed with being left alone.

 

Back now in their sanctuary, Boris and Hank each sipped a glass of the Crystal Lime Rum Liqueur as they sat in the uncovered outdoor lounge area. They had removed their shoes and socks the moment they had stepped into the suite and changed from their clothing into the soft chenille hotel robes. The sky had thin clouds which moved slowly from east to west and those clouds were illuminated a soft grey color by the moon. Because there were no lights on the ocean or shining from the Pitons Mountains, for one last time, they commented that it felt that they were sitting at the edge of the world.

“Did you notice those two women on the yacht?” Hank asked.

“Ja, I did; they could not have been more explicit in their interest of us,” Boris said, “And I wanted to embrace you simply to see how they would react. I wanted to say to them that you are mine and that they could not have you.”

Hank loved the way Boris said the word: bean

“That would have been really funny,” Hank said with a laugh, “I thought that the blonde was going to throw herself right at you. You know, Tree, I love that wicked streak in you.”

“I would rather describe it to be clever, ja?” Boris teased.

“No, you are downright wicked sometimes; and I don’t even know half of what’s inside that amazing mind of yours,” Hank teased back.

Boris finished his liqueur, set the glass down, stood up and stepped closer to Hank’s chair. He sat down on the wide arm of the chair, looked down at Hank with a slight smile, caressed Hank’s bearded cheek and said, “And if you stay with me long enough, you may just learn most of what is ‘inside my amazing mind’,” Boris chuckled, “You are a doctor and shall most likely understand it better than I. We can discover this together as even I am not certain of all that is in there.”

“Oh, I’m looking forward to learning all about that. I’m going to be with you forever, so I’ve got some time…” Hank said with a smile and he slid his hand under Boris’ robe at his thigh.

A moment later, Boris said as he stood up, “I need you, Hank.”

As Hank stood up, he said, “I need you, too, Boris.”

Their embrace was fierce and their kisses were passionate. Hank pulled Boris by the knotted robe belt over to the bed, but since Boris had tied a slip knot, it easily became undone and Boris stood there with his robe fully open and he wore nothing underneath the robe. Boris had an eager expression on his face and his body showed its own eagerness; Hank took that opportunity to wrap his arms around Boris’ body underneath the robe, he pressed himself against Boris and continued to kiss him; Hank’s body had already responded in kind.

Soon, both robes were off and lay across the corner of the bed and the two men entwined themselves with each other across the wide bed. There was movement and caresses and connection…

The husbands attempted to take their time and savor one another at first, but their amorous natures got in the way. 

 

It became very late and they had given much affection to one another, and not all at the same time. As they rested, Boris held Hank as they lay on their left sides, Hank’s back to the Boris’ front, their leg molded against each other, their heads rested on comfortable pillows and they had drawn the cover sheet and a light blanket across the bed to cover them from past their feet and up to their shoulders.

Their breathing had finally slowed to normal and even though their eyes were closed, they were not yet asleep; they spoke quietly to each other as they had done almost 24 hours before when they had laid on the lounge chairs in their hut on the beach. 

Hank asked, “Are you okay, Tree?”

“Ja, I am quite well, my beloved One, and you?” Boris replied.

“I’m really good. You said something on our beach walk today that I’d like to talk about,” Hank said.

“Do you wish to talk about staying here for a few more days versus going home?” Boris asked.

“Yeah, I do. Can I tell you my thoughts? I’ve been thinking a lot about it,” Hank offered.

“Of course, always; you know that you do not ever need to ask for my permission to speak your mind and what is in your heart,” Boris said sincerely.

“I know, I just like to show you that I have manners,” Hank said slyly.

Boris chuckled deeply into the back of Hank’s neck, kissed him lightly there and held Hank more firmly for a moment and moved his hand to press against Hank’s abdomen.

“I know it would be easy to change plans and stay here. And, I know that it would be wonderful to stay for a few more days…gees, it’s so nice and warm here…” Hank began.

Boris said, “Indeed.”

“But…there’s always something special about going home. It’s the familiar things like sleeping in our own bed, sitting in our chairs in front of the fireplace in the Main Living Room when we drink coffee or port; you know, and stuff like where we sit at the dining table when we eat and the time we spend together in the Library. Those are some of my favorite things. I guess I’m trying to say that those things are just as good as the new things we experience when we are on vacation,” Hank said thoughtfully.

“Ja, I understand, Hank,” Boris replied.

Hank continued, “We could extend this vacation out, but would that really make it better than it already has been? I don’t think so. It wouldn’t make it worse, I know that, too. This vacation has been so wonderful. Do you remember when you told me that Shadow Pond is like, how did you say it? Shadow Pond is…”

Boris finished his sentence, “I remember, eh...” And he paused a moment as he recalled the memory and recited his own words verbatim, “I said: “…This house, the grounds, they are my sanctuary; our staff feels more like my family than my own blood, and I feel that I refresh my strength here. I feel safe here.”

“You’re amazing, just amazing,” Hank replied as he shook his head slowly on the pillow and smiled, “Yeah, so what I am trying to say is that we should go home and build our strength and enjoy the comforts of home, then we can travel again. We’ve talked about what a busy year this is going to be for us and we don’t need to do everything all at once or over extend anything. From just my slightly medical point-of-view, taking time to be away and then going back home to refresh will be very healthy for us, and for you, especially. I’ve seen that you have tendency to try so hard to build or create, or add to or absorb so much, that you exhaust yourself in the process.”

“Hmmm, you are completely correct about this, my love. I feel as if I must gather and provide as much as I can for us, because I do not know if, or when, it will be ripped away from us. I wish for us to live with no regrets and that we have not missed anything,” Boris admitted.

Hank turned onto his back, and then on his right side to face Boris so that he could see his face and they both opened their eyes to look at one another. The small lamp on Hank’s side of the bed was on and cast a soft pearl-like glow behind Hank and around them. They could see the stars reflected in the far end of the infinity pool.

“Every day that we are together is a gift, Boris, every experience we have is a gift, too, whether we are away or at home; and we need to accept those gifts as they come and if they don’t come, then it wasn’t meant to be; that’s the way it is sometimes,” Hank said calmly and smiled slightly; he placed his left hand on Boris’ right cheek, “I read about a phrase once that went something like: ‘When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.’ That means that when you’re doing something that’s difficult... oh, like living day in and day out... we’re supposed to do it slowly and carefully. You and I should take life slowly and we should be careful with every day. Adding more, doing more, being more doesn’t necessarily mean better, okay?”

After a moment, Hank continued, “Listen to me, Boris, now as your doctor, we still have to be careful with your health, there’s no way around this any longer. Look at all of last year! And pretending that you don’t suffer or are not...sensitive, is no longer an option. (Hank wanted to use the words: medically fragile, but didn’t because it felt too harsh to say.) We just can’t have you overdoing or under-doing – for that matter - anything, extremes simply aren’t friendly to you. I told you, I’m not going to allow you to suffer any more. We’ve acknowledged this now and we are moving forward, right?” Hank said as he nodded his head on the pillow and used his hand on Boris’ cheek to guide his head to move in the same way.

Boris smiled slightly and closed his eyes halfway in shyness.

“You are really healthy right now and it’s because we’ve worked to maintain your needs, we’ve learned what works and we’ve got this down now. But vigilance for your health will always be ongoing; that too, this is the way it is now. I may be your husband, but I am also your doctor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and I notice the little things; and I am very careful now with each of your days and basically what happens in them,” Hank paused, “It’s good that we should go home, tomorrow, Boris,” Hank said enthusiastically.

Boris looked into Hank’s eyes and his smile faded a bit, “It is…difficult for me…to admit weakness, you know this, my beloved One. I want to push it away, make it vanish and act as if it were not there.”

Hank smiled as he remembered what Boris had told him about his upbringing and how he was forced to learn what he learned, “I know and I’m going to remind you over and over that you are stronger by acknowledging your weaknesses and managing them head on, with me at the helm.”

“I suppose now that one is never too old to learn new ways…” Boris said innocently and then his eyes widened and he cringed slightly because he realized that he had just said the forbidden word: ‘old’, “I apologize, Hank, for saying that word which you do not like, er, I do not feel old, I merely…”

Hank chuckled a little bit because he knew what Boris was thinking, “Oh, don’t worry about that, I know what you meant. Oh gees, Boris,” And Hank moved his head to kiss Boris tenderly over and over again. Hank then moved his body which pushed Boris onto his back and they continued to kiss each other with growing intensity, which in turn, built more intensity in their bodies that would soon need to be dealt with.

Their hands moved downward and across each others’ chests and abdomens in a never resting search to feel each others’ skin and then still lower to find the firmness which had grown and ached for release…

 

~~~

The snow had melted from the pathways at Shadow Pond and Boris and Hank were taking their daily walk. It was cold but sunny, and they were dressed properly to be outside; Hank even wore gloves and Boris wore his wool hat. There was talk that an early spring might arrive.

It had been three days since they had returned from St. Lucia and they still talked, and laughed, about the trip and what they had done whenever something came up that brought back fond memories.

Boris asked, during their walk, “I have just remembered something...how is it, Hank, that we were never scolded by Khalil for our hut adventure?”

Hank replied, “Oh, you were asleep and I talked with Khalil a little bit and everything was okay.”

Boris wrapped his arms around Hank, picked him up and literally spun the two of them around in place (which felt quite different to them because Boris had never done that before and they were bundled up with outdoor winter clothing). Boris breathlessly exclaimed, “You have charmed our Arabian Lion, a miraculous feat, indeed!”

 

~~~

 

Hank awoke early one morning, knew that Boris was still sleeping beside him and he was happy about that. Boris hadn’t felt completely well for the past few days and Hank was somewhat concerned. 

Boris awoke a short while later as Hank walked out of the Bath Room.

“Good morning, Boris,” Hank said cheerfully as he walked back over to their bed, sat down next to Boris and smiled at him.

Boris stretched, smiled slightly and looked fondly up at Hank and said as he lay on the bed, “Good morning, Hank.”

Hank leaned over and kissed Boris, “How do you feel right now?” Hank asked gently as he placed his hand on Boris’ chest at his heart. Dr. Hank wanted to take a rough test of Boris’ heartbeat. To Hank’s trained touch, even through the silk fabric of his pajama shirt, Boris’ heartbeat felt a little fast which meant he had developed a case of tachycardia for some reason.

“Ah, somewhat rested, I suppose,” Boris said as he sat up, blinked and looked around their Apartment.

“I’d like to do a blood draw today, if that’s okay with you. I know you haven’t been feeling well and it’s been a while since we did a full work up on you,” Hank said.

“Ja, of course, is there something that you are concerned about?” Boris asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I have an idea, but let me take your vital signs and send in your blood for multiple panel testing including a CBC. Have you been taking your iron supplements?” Dr. Hank asked.

“Oh, ja, I have not failed in the taking of all of my medications at breakfast as you have directed for many weeks now. I have been a good boy,” Boris said with a smile, “What is a CBC again?”

“Good, I thought that you were doing well with that, I just wanted to make sure,” Hank said, “A CBC is a complete blood count. Well, let’s get our day started, okay? I’m starting annual physicals on the staff this week and you can be my first patient…come to think of it, you are always my first patient.”

Boris reached out to hold Hank in his arms and moved so that he sat behind Hank with his legs on either side of him, on the edge of the bed with Hank’s back to Boris’ front, both of their pairs of bare feet on the floor next to the bed. Boris kissed the back of Hank’s neck and said, “I do appreciate that very much, however, if someone else is in more dire need of your direct care, I would be happy to step aside.”

“There you go again, Tree, always looking out for someone else before yourself,” Hank said as he patted Boris’ arms which were across his chest.

 

After breakfast in the Parlor Dining Room, Boris, Hank, and Udo walked to the Infirmary. Hank explained to Udo that he wanted to have Boris’ blood checked as it hadn’t been done in a while.

 

As Hank handed Udo the sealing bag which held the multiple vials of Boris’ blood and the written and signed test request form, Udo asked, “Is there cause for concern, Dr. Hank?”

Boris looked fondly at Udo and at Hank as he rolled down his sleeve, buttoned it and put his coat back on.

“Not at the moment, Udo; you know that I just like to be sure,” Hank said in a comforting tone of voice, “Staff annual physicals are starting this week and Boris is my first patient.”

Udo bowed to both of them and left the Infirmary with the sealing bag clutched to his chest. As always, he would have one of Khalil’s men, who would be fully armed; take the blood vials to Hamptons Heritage for testing.

Hank and Boris smiled at each other.

“What do my vital signs tell you, Dr. Hank?” Boris asked, and he held up a hand because Hank was going to say something, “I know that you prefer to wait until the blood test results are back, however, can you simply tell me what your concern is?”

Hank looked at the floor for a moment as he weighed his decision to share his medical opinion with Boris earlier in the situation than what he usually did. Hank looked up again at Boris and said, “First of all, I don’t think that it is anything really serious, so don’t worry about this. Second, your vitals are mixed. Your blood pressure and temperature are both your-normal, but your heart rate is rapid for your-normal; that’s called tachycardia, this is a result of something else. The inside of your eye lids are very pale. You’ve been showing signs of excessive fatigue lately, as in I've noticed that you’ve started to hold your coffee cup or your glass with both hands lately, which means you are experiencing overall weakness, right?”

“Ja, you are correct,” Boris said with concern.

“Have you experienced any more moments of that lightheadedness and shortness of breath that you told me about? I notice that you hold onto furniture to steady yourself more often now. I’ve half expected you to take up your cane again,” Dr. Hank asked.

“It appears to happen now whenever I move about; when I am sitting or lying down, I feel fine,” Boris replied.

“Yeah, okay, I thought so,” Hank nodded his head and sighed.

Boris stepped over to Hank and looked at him with a mixed expression of concern and curiosity, “Please tell me, Hank, what you think this may be. I shall worry more about it if I do not know anything other than you are concerned for me.”

Hank smiled slightly and held Boris’ arm, “I think that your anemia has returned; all of these are classic symptoms.”

“But, I take the iron supplements daily,” Boris said with slight confusion.

“That’s very good, please keep doing that, but anemia can also be brought forth by low levels of folate and B12 and vitamin C which helps in the absorption of iron in the blood. If your blood test shows that your blood cells, or corpuscular volume, is large, then we’ll know we need to increase those levels in addition to your iron level and that combination will most likely resolve this issue. The tests will also show the variation in size or red cell distribution width, and concentration of hemoglobin in the red blood cells, which is corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. Those results will tell us if there is something else going on. I think you may also need to increase your iron intake by tweaking your diet a little bit, too, and I’ll work with Chef on that. Sometimes our internal chemistry just goes a little wonky, you know?” Hank paused a moment and looked up at Boris with fondness, “I’m really…really glad that you shared with me what you were feeling when this started rather than later…”

“…as I have done in the past,” Boris finished his sentence.

“Uh, yeah, and because if you had waited, the next step after you would exponentially weaken from the anemia, and become bed ridden, is that you would probably need to have a blood transfusion...and that wouldn’t solve the initial problem,” Hank said plainly with a that’s-what-happens-when-you-wait-too-long-to-tell-me-things expression.

“Huh,” Boris said, “This is my reward for marrying a doctor, ja?”

“Yup,” Hank said as he looked into Boris’ eyes.

 

Udo refused to let the courier hand deliver the letter to Boris. Udo wasn’t about to have an intruder come into the house and disrupt the harmony of the afternoon. If anyone was going make a disruption, Udo would take that responsibility and he signed for the letter. The courier argued with Udo and stated that Udo was not allowing him to fulfill his duty and that Udo should understand this being a person-of-service himself. Udo reminded the courier that he was also responsible to protect his charges and he was doing just that and that the courier was fulfilling his duty and delivering the letter; the letter was just going to Udo first. (Udo said at one point in their argument, “…and do not lecture to ME about service, young man…”)

Udo waited until they had finished their afternoon coffee and had just begun to rise from their chairs in the Main Living Room, when he walked over to them.

Boris and Hank saw the expression on Udo’s face, which Udo thought he kept guarded but didn’t, and they said simultaneously, “What’s wrong, Udo?”

Hank then said, “Are you all right?”

“Yes, Sirs, I am fine, thank you for asking. A delivery has been made and I signed for it on your behalf,” Udo said formally.

Boris tilted his head and held out his hand; Udo retrieved the letter from his jacket breast pocket and placed it in Boris’ outstretched hand.

“Who is that from?” Hank asked as he looked from Udo to Boris and then back to Udo.

Boris looked at the envelope which had his name written on it in elegant cursive writing, “Uncle Stephan has decided to communicate with us,” Boris was instantly annoyed as the envelope should have included Hank’s name as well.

“Terrific,” Hank said sarcastically, as he wondered what the von Jurgens were up to and what did they want this time.

Boris sighed deeply as he looked at Udo and then at Hank. Boris appeared to be weighing a decision and then shook his head slightly. At the exact same moment that Boris moved to hand the envelope to Hank, Hank held out his hand to take the envelope from Boris. When the envelope changed hands, Boris and Hank smiled slightly at each other.

Hank looked at the envelope and noticed too, that his name was not on it. He opened it, withdrew and unfolded the paper from the envelope; it was obviously addressed to only Boris, “I can’t read this, it’s in German, but your uncle appears to be talking just to you.”

“Ja, so the rude behavior continues. Udo, would you be so kind as to assist Hank in the translation? I…at this moment, do not wish to know what they have to say to…us,” Boris stated firmly, his jaw set; he looked at Hank and at Udo and said, “And I shall be in the Library reading if you need me,” Then Boris turned and left the Main Living Room quickly. Hank noticed that Boris held on to the backs of chairs and adjusted the direction of his walk so that he could momentarily grasp the living room’s entry way molding to steady himself before continuing into the corridor.

“Should we follow him, Dr. Hank?” Udo said in a worried tone of voice.

Hank motioned Udo to follow him to the entry way and they watched Boris quickly walk down the long corridor and enter the Library, “No, he’ll be okay for now, but can you read this to me? I want to go and check on Boris right away.” Hank thought that he heard the door of the Library slam shut, not just close, but he could have been mistaken.

Udo bowed slightly and took the papers from Hank, “Of course, Dr. Hank, it says: Dear Nephew Boris, It is time for you…”

 

Hank entered the Library, but he knocked on the door first. Boris sat in his chair, calmly reading his current book, ‘The Iliad’, by Homer in English, and he looked up over his eye glasses to see Hank enter the room. Boris smiled when their eyes met and Hank looked relieved.

“This is your Library, too, Hank, you do not need to knock, although I must say that your mannerism is quite charming,” Boris said pleasantly. He closed his book and put it and his reading glasses on the side table, “Please come sit with me.”

Hank closed the Library’s door quietly behind him and went directly to Boris; he looked down at Boris and asked, “I have to ask this…how do you feel right now?”

Boris looked up at Hank and said sincerely, “I feel fine, truly. I only felt some dizziness because I walked here too quickly, but I do not feel unsettled, not at all…and, eh, I am somewhat surprised at that.”

“I’m glad to hear that, I mean, that you are not unsettled. I don’t like the dizziness part, but we’ll work on that. Um, is there anything that I can do for you right now?” Hank asked, “No, don’t get up,” Then Hank sat in the chair adjacent to Boris’ chair.

“I must apologize to you, Hank, and thank you for being my paladin,” Boris said honestly.

“What? What do you mean? There’s nothing to apologize for,” Hank replied.

“Ah, but there is; please indulge me, my beloved One. You have become the champion of my cause, as it were, my paladin, and deftly took on my cause without even being asked. I am grateful to you for shouldering this burdensome family of mine and I apologize for not ever placing a request upon you in the first place and allow you the opportunity to decline the position,” Boris said.

Hank loved the way Boris said: aahsked.

Hank reached over and grasped Boris’ hand, smiled and said, “Gees, Boris, you are amazing. Don’t worry about any of this; we take care of each other no matter what comes our way. We both have issues with family; I think that happens to a lot of people.”

“But, Hank, your brother is not a problem, he is simply…Evan,” Boris said plainly.

“Oh, I was talking about the problem I have with my dad,” Hank said with a grimace.

“Ah, I see, ja, well you may be correct on that one,” Boris replied.

Hank released Boris’ hand and then said, “So, I have to say this, too; when you are ready to hear what’s on the letter, you let me know, okay?”

Boris studied Hank’s expression and looked into his eyes with what Boris hoped wasn’t the ‘laser beam’ look that Hank described of them when Boris expected something to be done or an answer to be given, but with a look that was trusting and strong – which is how Boris actually felt at the moment. (Boris wasn't sure at times based on the stunned reactions he received by people.)

“I shall. However, I am in an odd position at the moment; part of me is curious to know what they want and part of me wishes to no longer be involved on any level with either the Kuesters or the von Jurgens. I do not care about them any longer. Since Christmas, I have not thought about the family very much and certainly not to the degree of anguish I had in the past, and I have been quite happy about that. I truly wonder now that if that…trauma…I experienced has burnt out whatever…poison…they have may placed inside of me,” Boris said openly.

Hank smiled as he was very proud of Boris at that moment, “I understand and I’m glad to hear you say this. You seem to be a lot less troubled since the…trauma; so now we just have to care for your physical health. Your mental and emotional health has been repaired, I think.”

Boris’ face took on a calm expression and he said, “Your love has healed me, my beloved One, ja?”

“Well, maybe, just a little bit,” Hank said shyly and with laughter, “But you wanted to heal, so take some of that credit.”

“All right then, I shall,” Boris said with confidence.

“Isn’t there still one faction of your family out there,” Hank asked as he waved a hand in the air, “The ones who are NOT the problem children?”

“Problem children? What an amusing idiom, Hank; er, ja, you are referring to the Ratenicz side of my family. I am glad that you brought this up because I had planned to speak with you about this soon. I…” Boris started to say and then paused.

Hank watched Boris and didn’t say anything; Boris appeared to be arranging his thoughts before he spoke.

“I thought that perhaps, if you would be agreeable to this, for us to take a trip next month. We can limit the trip to merely three weeks,” Boris began.

“Go on, what’s on your mind, Boris,” Hank replied warily not knowing what to expect.

“When I tell you of my idea, you may think that there is too much involved, but please hear me out,” Boris said confidently.

“Sure, just say it and we’ll hash out the details afterwards,” Hank said with openness.

“All right, as you wish; the trip would involve three parts: visiting Albert in Bonn, then visiting Dima’s grave in Budapest and finally visiting the Ratenicz clan in St. Petersburg,” Boris said this as if it was a business dealing.

“Wow! Yeah, you’re right, that’s a lot! How long have you been thinking about this?” Hank said with amazement.

“For a while, although I cannot really say when it coalesced into a plan of travel. However, when we talked about doing too many things, I wondered that this trip which I am describing would push that boundary. Considering the look upon your face when I said it just now, I may have gone past the boundary and over the cliff, ja?” Boris said lightly.

Hank nodded his head and smiled, “Yeah, and crashed and burned on the rocks below that cliff. Um, I think we could manage a trip like this and I like that you are limiting it to three weeks. I would prefer two weeks just for our own sanity, and you know that I’m going to watch you like a hawk, as your doctor, I mean. Now, we definitely can’t leave until we get whatever is medically affecting you right now worked out. I won’t allow you to go anywhere until I see your numbers stable for a while and see you get stronger and eliminate the dizziness, you know that, right?”

“Ja, that is sensible. I am certain that will take some time and that time will be appreciated by Udo and Khalil to make the necessary arrangements for us; there is more involved with a trip like this,” Boris said, “Also, this trip, I am sad to say, Hank, will not allow us to be the rebels we were in St. Lucia.”

“Oh, man! That’s NO fun!” Hank said laughingly.

 

~~~

 

The two men were in the Pool Room because Boris wanted to go swimming in the late morning before lunch. Tomas, one of their Maintenance Technicians, reset the thermostats on the pool water and air temperature, and after a short while, the water and the air were as warm as it was in St. Lucia. Boris thought that it was ‘simply wonderful’ to be inside, warm and swimming and then to look out of the long wall of windows which were on one side of the Pool Room that overlooked the snow covered Lower Gardens.

Hank asked Boris to take it easy and not push himself, which Hank knew he would. Boris was usually a powerful swimmer and easily and quickly swam many laps; but today, Boris was much slower and was unable to do his normal set of ten laps. Boris was very unhappy about this and became frustrated. While Hank was running on the treadmill in the Exercise Room, which was just off of the Pool Room, Boris could only finish three laps and then stayed in the water and sat on a ledge fuming at himself for being so weak. It took him longer to catch his breath and Boris knew he shouldn’t be upset, but he couldn’t help it; this was how he felt whenever he failed the goals that he set for himself.

Hank came into the Pool Room with a towel around his neck and wiped the sweat off of his face. Hank had run a fast 30 minutes and felt energized. Hank said, “I’m going to change into my swim suit and I’ll join you in a minute.”

Boris had his back to Hank and raised a hand in the air to acknowledge Hank’s comment, but Boris did not turn and look at Hank. Boris was attempting to calm himself and he didn’t want Hank to see any frustration on his face.

As Hank came back into the Pool Room and walked over to where Boris was, Boris had done an almost fair job of calming down and looked at Hank as he entered the pool. Boris smiled slightly and Hank asked, “What’s the matter?”

As if he was attempting to evade capture, Boris replied flatly, “Nothing.”

That, in and of itself, was enough for Hank, who now knew Boris very well, to ask, “I’m going to ask you again, what’s the matter? Boris? You are not happy right now, I can tell.”

Boris lifted his chin, furrowed his brow, and made his lips tight and thin, which was Boris’ version of a pout; he sighed and then said angrily, “My current physical state has robbed me of six laps in this pool.”

Hank had the worse time trying not to smile at that moment and he turned his head away; because when Boris got like this, he was both ridiculous and adorable to Hank at the same time. Hank knew he had to tread carefully at this point, because whatever Hank would say or do next could either make Boris release his annoyance and chuckle, or Boris would be angry for the next hour and not say a word.

Boris’ blood work test results had arrived in Hank’s email inbox when he was on his run and while Hank changed clothes, he checked the email on his phone and read the results. The results were good in that there was nothing else wrong and that what Hank had thought they could do to turn the situation around was just that. Hank decided to share this good news with Boris.

“I understand that Boris, and…” Hank almost said something about ‘looking on the bright side’ but realized that comment would have really pissed Boris off.

“And…” Boris said with an annoyed tone of voice as he wished Hank would get to the point.

“And, that is going to change soon,” Hank said pleasantly.

Boris had looked across the pool, and at Hank’s comment, he turned his head to look at Hank but also slowly blinked at the same time, which gave him the look of a hawk. Birds of prey often close their eyes when they turn their head and reopen their eyes when they have settled on a new direction to view or a new prey to watch. The expression Boris wore was both wary and impatient.

“Uh, okay, Boris, take a breath,” Hank’s eyes began to drill into Boris’ eyes; Hank didn’t smile and his expression was best described as ‘Don’t go there’; Hank had learned that sometimes Boris’ negative energy needed to come up against an equally energetic force and then the situation was diffused (read: diffused as in not detonating a bomb). And it appeared that only Hank could get away with using this process on Boris and be successful; everyone else who Hank saw attempt this, failed miserably at it.

Boris did take a breath, blinked again and calmly asked, “How will things change?”

Then, cheerfully, as if nothing had happened, Hank said, “I got your blood test results and what I said we needed to do we can do and doing all of that will make you feel better.”

“Surely? Are you certain?” Boris said with relief and the remaining tension he held onto dissipated.

“Yeah, there aren’t any other underlying issues, so we’re going to increase your vitamin C intake – that helps iron to be absorbed; we’re also going to add folate and B-12 to your vitamin regiment and I’m going to give a list of iron-rich foods to Chef so that he can incorporate more of them into your diet; he should have doing that anyway but has kinda slacked off a little bit, I think. I’ll place an order for your supplements today and you can start taking them tomorrow. In a few days, as all of this kicks in, you should start to feel better,” Hank stated.

“Huh. Well, thank you, Hank, for sharing this with me so quickly and…for, eh, tolerating my attitude,” Boris said humbly.

“You’re welcome. I’m going to show you an updated list of foods, you can pick out what you like, and we can ask Chef to add them to our meals,” Hank said happily.

“OUR meals?” Boris asked.

“Yeah, I like everything on the list and it won’t hurt me to eat those foods also either; we’re doing this together. And since you already have a light eating habit, there is NO way that I’m going to try and make you eat foods that you don’t like,” Hank said.

“I do not enjoy anything bean-like, so you can remove those from the list,” Boris said plainly, he waved his hand in the air as if to dismiss beans from the face of the earth; Boris remembered the list of iron-rich foods that Hank once had showed him.

“I know that you don’t like beans, Boris, we will simply take them off of the list,” Hank said laughingly; Hank suddenly felt like he was talking to a teenager with fussy eating habits.

“Good, and I like broccoli, walnuts and apricots,” Boris stated as he recalled the list in his mind.

“Okay, Boris,” Hank laughed, “We’ll go through the list at lunch. Will I be in trouble if I hug you right now? You know, while we’re in the pool?” Hank said with his most charming smile.

Boris looked at Hank and now the smile he had on his face also lit up his eyes. He moved through the water and pulled Hank to him and embraced him first, “I know we are being watched, but I do not care,” Boris said gently in Hank’s ear, “And I shall kiss you later, H-hank.”

Hank returned the embrace, smiled slyly and took a moment to quickly and firmly grip the lower portion Boris’ backside which was hidden under the water.

Boris visibly flinched as he was taken by surprise by this grope, he looked down at Hank as they embraced and began to laugh…

 

At dinner that night, after taking a sip of wine and as he placed his glass on the table, Boris asked Hank, “I am ready now for you to tell me about the contents of Uncle Stephan’s letter.”

“Are you sure?” Hank asked with a slight teasing tone to his voice

Boris rolled his eyes and replied, “Ja, I would not ask, if I was not ready.”

“I’m just making sure,” Hank said plainly.

“Hank, will you please get on with it?” Boris asked, slightly annoyed as the topic wasn’t one he felt like bantering about with Hank.

“Well, basically, he is requesting – no, it’s a little more than requesting, on behalf of the family, that you bring, - no, the word he used was, present, uh, me to the family at their home for an official meeting, - no, the word he used was, um, Udo said it was a word that was something like a presentation and an introduction, and so that they could further determine my value to the family,” Hank said nervously.

Boris felt as if he just had a tooth pulled without anesthesia and replied, “Oh, good lord.”

Hank couldn’t tell if Boris’ response was because of what he said or how he had said it; Hank wanted to say it in a completely different way, but he became nervous under Boris’ confidence and his carefully practiced version completely went away from his mind. Hank watched Boris as he sat at the dining table and looked across the Parlor Dining Room, obviously in thought. Boris picked up his wine glass and took several sips over the course of a few moments. Hank ate a few bites of his dinner and then picked up his wine glass to drink from as well.

“No,” Boris stated calmly as he turned his head and looked at Hank and subtly pushed his dinner plate a half of inch away from him which usually meant that Boris was finished with his meal; and there was still half of his dinner left on the plate.

Hank wondered if he should ask Boris to elaborate; Hank hoped that there was more that Boris would say because he knew that Boris would keep this inside of him and that was always bad for Boris.

Boris saw the look of anticipation on Hank’s face, sighed deeply and then said, “We can talk further about this if you wish.”

Hank released the tension in his shoulders, which he didn’t realize had crept upwards toward his ears, “Oh, thank you. I know this isn’t easy.”

“It is ridiculous, is what it is, Hank,” Boris said confidently but still annoyed.

“Boris, please tell me what’s on your mind right now,” Hank asked respectfully as he picked up his fork and then ate a few bites with the hope to subliminally prompt Boris back into eating.

Boris looked away for a moment and then returned his gaze to Hank; Boris smiled slightly in an attempt to ease Hank as he now thought about this from both his point-of-view and (what Boris hoped was) from Hank’s. Boris started to say something and then stopped.

“What?” Hank asked quietly and wished Boris would continue to eat his dinner.

Boris sighed and continued, “This situation is what it is; I know Uncle Stephan and although your descriptions of the contents of his letter are distilled through your sensibilities, he is essentially, and formally, demanding our presence.”

Hank blinked and remained quiet; he did not want to interrupt Boris.

“I am very proud to have you as my husband, Hank, and I will always show you off to people who would respect you; but I shall not subject you to the type of treatment that the von Jurgens would provide. They are expecting us to fail under their scrutiny and would do their best to humiliate and separate us. I know them; they destroy that which does not please them. It would begin as a cordial enough meeting, with all of the trappings of a welcome, but it would turn very quickly as they are not ones to waste time. I know that you can handle yourself in any situation; you often handle things better than I do. You are never afraid to tackle things head on; your courage is another aspect of your charm, at least to me, but your charm would be crushed by them. No, they are not worth our time or our effort and only when the opportunity affords us a powerful success, will we then consider a meeting with them. The meeting must be on our terms, not theirs,” Boris stated and as he spoke, his jaw tensed and his eyes became steel grey.

Hank swallowed and nodded his head.

“Ja, it IS that bad, Hank,” Boris said as he looked at Hank’s dinner plate and then at his own. He moved the plate the half inch back to its original spot, he picked up his fork and knife and began to cut a few small pieces of the beef and then ate them.

Hank felt unhappy and relieved at the same time and continued to eat.

Both men were silent for a few moments as they did this. The music playing in the background was ‘The Four Seasons, Winter’ by Antonio Vivaldi, which was somewhat somber and unfortunately fit the conversation perfectly.

“May I ask a question?” Hank said this quietly.

“Of course,” Boris said now with a slight smile and a softened expression as he looked at Hank.

“Do we respond to the letter?” Hank asked.

“Oh, indeed we will respond; it will be terse and formal, and we shall both sign it with our new hyphenated names,” Boris said and he chuckled when he did.

“Uh, won’t that piss them off?” Hank offered.

Boris finished taking a sip of his wine and replied with a wicked grin, “Oh, ja, it will and I am sorry that we shall not be there to witness their expressions. You see, Hank, by combining our names, as we have done, this is akin to, in their eyes that we are near to desecrating the family crypt. It is insult upon injury,” Boris almost said ‘And we shall take great delight in their misery’, but didn’t because he knew that Hank’s gentle soul would not agree to that at all although it was obvious that Boris would enjoy the battle. 

Boris understood what they were up against and he believed that Hank did not and Boris had to juggle both of these carefully; but suddenly at that moment, as he looked at Hank’s face, he wasn’t so sure now that what he was suggested was really the right thing to do. Something about what he suggested now felt wrong; Boris had changed slightly over the time since he and Hank had become a couple, there was something that Hank brought into their lives which helped, and that something was true goodness, which drew out of Boris a goodness that had become buried under decades of tension.

Hank became concerned at this and said, “I get this, but it sounds mean.”

“From one point-of-view, yes, you are correct, however, Hank, it is what they would understand. They still do not believe that we are what we are, they still do not accept nor would sincerely welcome us as we are, they still do not care about us as we are; and being diplomatic and polite will only fuel their need to try and ruin our relationship. When they see weakness, they bend it until it breaks and then they reshape it to their own need; they will attempt to turn us against each other - which they will not be successful at, but they still want to fight. They will have won if we do not fight them,” Boris said as he remembered some of the more painful times when the family had broken him and his expression became haunted. 

Boris also still harbored the deep disappointment over the family’s disapproval of his and Hank’s relationship and yet deeper, he knew he should not have expected what he had. He had been taught that family approval was all encompassing and final. Boris knew now that he had set himself up for that disappointment by being too hopeful; he felt foolish that he had wanted the family to be happy for him with his new life, but they were never happy with what he did; Boris tried not to settle on that thought.

“This is awful,” Hank said sadly and then he looked at Boris and asked, “Can I make a suggestion?” Hank now started to better and more fully understand what Boris went through in his earlier years. This is how the family worked and it built upon acts of revenge over the generations. Hank understood that Boris had been born into this and had to quickly learn the game in order to survive. This didn’t mean the game was right, it is just the way it was and Boris’ suggestion of using their hyphenated names only added to the anger and manipulation that was the way the family functioned.

“Surely,” Boris said with deep curiosity.

Hank sighed deeply, “Let’s take a step back from this for moment and breathe. I see where this is going and it is essentially a stomping game; you stomp on me and then I stomp on you. I understand that this is what you are used to with this family, Boris, and I am really sad that this is what you have to deal with. This is just awful,” Hank said with disappointment as he shook his head, “I…just would like to do something a little different.”

Boris looked at Hank with more curiosity and reached out his hand on the table with the hope that Hank would take it, “Please tell me what you would like to do.” 

Boris then had what Hank would call a ‘light bulb moment’. Boris realized with the simple fact that Hank wanted to do something different about this, than what he had suggested, opened his eyes to see that the family’s ‘demand’ had triggered his innate and harsh response to family politics. Now, Hank showed Boris that there was a more comfortable path for Boris to personally take and to learn how to get out from underneath the old set of family-related response habits that he was accustomed to. Boris suddenly felt lighter and he enjoyed that feeling and the surprise he felt upon noticing it - even though he didn’t know what Hank was about to suggest.

Hank reached out his hand and took Boris’ hand; he smiled at Boris and said, “I would like to take a different approach with our response. It’s obvious that the family is not going to change, so we won’t try to change them. You’re right, they’re not worth it. Why should we want to be associated with people who have no compassion?”

Hank shook his head and continued, “I’m sorry to say this Boris, but I’m going to say it anyway. You’re family are acting like spoiled brats who always want to get their way, and they’re being jerks by being so selfish. Sure, it’s obvious that they don’t care about us, so what? Why do we need their approval or acceptance anyway? We don’t need them to live our lives. If they want to play their stupid mind games, let them. I would love to ask them: Hey! How’s that working out for you? Are you happy, because you don’t act like you’re happy?” 

Hank then said, “I know that I’m simplifying this because I don’t know everything about your family history, and that aspect of ‘royalty’ that you hint about from time to time, but since you’ve stepped away from that by being with me and you have taken those ‘business’ steps to protect us from them, we don’t need them at all, right? I understand that you have a high degree of honor and duty, but this time, no… They’ll expect us to respond as you’re suggesting, fire with fire. We can respond but with a distinct way that is ours, not theirs. Let’s not add fuel to the fire but stop them in their tracks cold.”

“What do you suggest?” Boris asked with complete attention.

“It’s simple. We’ll write that letter telling them that we’re not interested, as you said, and we’ll be as brief as you want to be; but we will simply sign it ‘Boris and Hank’…that’s all. They won’t know what to do with that. Just think of their expressions with that when they read that response!” Hank said lightheartedly and held up a hand in the air, palm outward in front of him as if creating a visual, “The letter could say: Dear Family, No, thank you. With Regards, Boris and Hank.”

Boris smiled as he looked at Hank; he grasped Hank’s hand a little more firmly and said, “You are brilliant.”

With a huge grin and flashing blue eyes, Hank said, “I know! It’s why you married me!”

 

~~~

 

And that is exactly what the response letter to Uncle Stephan actually showed:   
Dear Family, No, thank you. With Regards, Boris and Hank

It was the middle of the afternoon on the next day, and they were in their Apartment when they wrote the letter on Boris’ best stationery and by his hand in German. Hank signed his own name. They tried to think of other things to say, but Hank had summed the situation up perfectly and succinctly; Boris simply couldn’t believe how relieved he felt; a burden which suppressed him on several levels had been lifted. As he folded the paper, inserted it into the envelope and sealed it with the wax seal and stamp, his relieved expression made Hank laugh, which of course, made Boris laugh. 

“We shall have Udo send this out for us at his earliest opportunity,” Boris stated.

They embraced and held each other close for many moments. Boris looked at Hank and caressed his bearded cheek with his hand and said, “Thank you, my beloved One, you are my treasure.”

They looked deeply in each other’s eyes for a moment, put their foreheads together then closed their eyes and allowed the silence of the room envelope them. Boris bent his head and slowly and lightly kissed Hank’s forehead, his temple, then his cheekbone and he paused there. Hank’s arms were wrapped around Boris’ body underneath his unbuttoned suit jacket and he strengthened his grip.

Hank whispered - his face was now at Boris’ neck, “I didn’t lock the door,” And his hands moved down Boris’ back.

“And we are still fully clothed,” Boris whispered back as he moved his long fingers through Hank’s hair.

They looked at one another and in a moment, Hank ran to the door and locked it, Boris strode quickly to the bed and flung the bedspread onto the floor; as Hank ran to the bed he started to unbutton his shirt and Boris took off his jacket his tie. From that moment, there was a flurry of undressing and kissing; they fell onto the bed tangled in whatever parts of their clothing that were still on their bodies and laughed as they untangled themselves; soon they both gave into their passions…

 

“Good lord…I am thirsty…”Boris said from where his head was on the bed as he laid there on his belly, the left side of his face on the bed.

“Yeah, me too…but I don’t want to move,” Hank said from where he was lying face down on top of Boris and slightly on his left side.

“I do not want you, or I for that matter…to move at this moment,” Boris replied, “We shall just have to stay right here.”

They both were sideways across the bed, clothes and pillows were strewn everywhere around the bed and on the floor; their breathing began to calm; their legs were entwined and they held each other’s hands with arms at their sides on their right side and above their heads on their left side in a type of an embrace.

“Suits me…just fine,” Hank replied from where his head was next to Boris’ on the bed, his eyes closed, and his face buried in Boris’ hair at the back of his neck, “Are you cold?” Hank asked quietly.

“Parts of me are a bit chilled, but other parts of me are nicely warm,” Boris replied, his eyes, too, were closed and the left side of his face was still on the bed, “But please do not move yet, my love.”

“Where’s the blanket?” Hank asked.

“We are lying upon it,” Boris replied.

“Oh,” Hank said.

They drifted off to sleep for a short while and Hank started awake, his body shook briefly but violently and because he had not moved from off of Boris, the shudder awoke Boris.

“Hank? Are you all right?” Boris asked with concern as he turned onto his right side and he used his elbow to prop himself up to look at Hank.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Hank replied weakly as he moved off of Boris and onto his left side, “I was dreaming,” Hank rubbed his eyes slowly.

They both sat up, their naked bodies close and still touched, their legs somewhat entangled and Boris held Hank’s neck and jaw with one hand and had his other hand on Hank’s knee. Boris looked at Hank with concern, “Look at me, Hank.”

Hank did so and Boris saw something in Hank’s eyes that looked like confusion. 

Boris leaned over and kissed Hank tenderly on his temple, “It is all right, you are here, at home, safe with me. Are you able to recall anything?”

Hank sighed deeply and blinked several times to re-acclimate himself; Hank rubbed his eyes again and looked at Boris, “Uh, yeah, I fell off of a cliff, I think…”

“I see,” Boris said quietly, “Come here…” And Boris moved to embrace Hank and bring him back to lie down alongside him with his arms surrounding Hank; Boris was on his back, their legs along side and against each other and Hank’s head was on Boris’ shoulder. Boris had also grabbed the edge of the blanket and bed sheet and pulled them across their naked bodies to warm them both, “Please share your thoughts, my beloved One.” Boris gently stroked Hank’s hair with his left hand with the hope to calm him; Boris could feel Hank’s heart still pounding wildly in his chest because their chests were against one another.

“What time is it?” Hank asked.

Boris looked at his wrist watch, “It is four.”

“Oh, okay, we missed coffee service,” Hank said simply.

“I am certain they will manage without us. How do you feel right now?” Boris asked with concern.

“Better, my heart was pounding so hard that my chest hurt a little bit,” Hank said.

“I know, I could feel it, too. Do you remember anything else about the dream?” Boris asked.

“It was really windy, I had trouble breathing and…I woke up before I hit the rocks at the bottom,” Hank admitted.

Boris held Hank a little tighter and kissed the hair on his head, “That was a good thing. You are safe now, do you understand this?”

“Yes, thank you…” Hank paused for a long moment, then said, “…Um, I think I was pushed off but I don’t remember sensing that there was anyone around me on the cliff. I just remember the sensation of a push at my back; weird, huh?”

“Hmmm, dreams are…weird…and I know which definition you refer to this time. This is not the good type of weird, ja?” Boris said quietly.

Hank smiled slightly, raised his head from Boris’ shoulder and looked at Boris, “Yeah, this was a bad kind of weird. But, it was just a dream, it’s over, I’m home safe with you,” Hank sighed and then said, “Hey, let’s get dressed and go have a drink while we sit in front of the fireplace on the couch. I could use a swig of the Imperia right now.”

“As you desire, my beloved One,” Boris said with a comforting smile; and they moved to get off of the bed, located their clothing and got dressed for the second time that day.


	21. Reminisce, Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there are good times to remember! Hank learns a lot about Boris’ past.

Two weeks had passed and Boris’ health had become better and stable under the addition of the new supplements and adjustments to Boris’ diet. Hank did a blood draw and checked Boris’ vital signs twice a week and it was a cause to toast when they received the results. Boris commented that he especially appreciated not feeling dizzy and being short of breath any longer. Hank appreciated reading the detailed blood work print-out because he knew that when Boris’ blood levels were within the ranges they should be, Hank knew that his husband was healthy and strong.

They chose the last week of March to start their travels through Europe and Russia and this gave Udo and Khalil ample time to make the necessary arrangements needed for the trip. Bonn, Germany would be the first stop, Budapest, Hungary was second, and St. Petersburg, Russia would be the third and last stop. 

Hank insisted, for Boris’ health, that for each day they traveled to a new location, the travel and settling into their hotel suite would be the only things done during that day – he wasn’t going to allow or agree to any side excursions, not even to 'stop somewhere for coffee' (Hank’s words). Hank wanted to make sure that they rested even though they weren’t actually extending any energy; he thought that although they were sitting in the jet or in a car traveling and doing (essentially) nothing, travel was still taxing to Boris whether Boris wanted to admit it or not. Hank firmly insisted as well, that they keep as close to their usual meal schedule as possible because he knew that it would help Boris keep his energy consistent and support him to take his medications like clockwork. 

Hank said to Boris, “I told you, I’m going to watch you like a hawk. There’s going to be a lot of Dr. Hank on this trip, and even in front of everybody; and if it seems to me that you need food or rest or anything, I am going to say something and you need to agree to it, okay? But don’t worry; we’ll still be able to enjoy ourselves.”

Boris searched Hank’s eyes and saw his determination; Boris knew that Hank was being this way for Boris’ benefit and he greatly appreciated this.

Khalil and Udo were very pleased at Hank’s demands as they also knew that this was the right thing to do for Boris’ sake. 

Boris gave in under the pressure from the three men whom he trusted completely; he knew that they had his best interest at heart and could not disrespect them now by demanding otherwise. Boris had done enough of that in his past and it almost killed him a couple of times. He was learning how to be ‘strong like Hank’ (Boris’ words) by acknowledging his ‘potential towards medical fragility’ and manage it head on. (That phrase finally came out in an interesting conversation between Hank and Boris one day.) Boris had begun to feel a sense of comfort from this rather than an annoyance as his mind determined that he was in charge now (which is what he wanted) and that his physical sensitivities were not in charge (which is also what he wanted).

Boris, however, made a comment that on the way back home from St. Petersburg, they should stay overnight in Paris as a brief stopover before flying across the Atlantic and suggested that this might be an appropriately aeronautical thing to do. 

Hank said, “Don’t you remember what we talked about and agreed to about not adding onto things and doing too much?”

Boris replied innocently, “It is a long way from Russia to America, Hank. Even our jet needs to stop and refuel at times. Udo has requested guidance from Captain Frank on this and he will let us know what may need to occur. I just merely suggested we stop in Paris rather than somewhere else less enjoyable. Would you not love to view La Ville-Lumière from the top of the Tour Eiffel?”

 

During coffee service one afternoon, Khalil asked for a moment of their time as he had something important to say.

“Good afternoon, Khalil, what may we do for you?” Boris asked.

“Hi, Khalil, is everything okay?” Hank asked.

“Good afternoon, Sirs; yes, everything is secure and functioning properly,” Khalil replied.

“Please sit down and join us, Khalil, do you wish to have some coffee?” Boris asked graciously.

“No, thank you, Sir, I am fine; I will only need a few minutes,” Khalil said as he sat down on the edge of the couch.

“What’s up, Khalil? Are we in trouble again?” Hank said with a laugh and a smile as he looked at Boris.

“Ja, I thought we had been behaving ourselves of late,” Boris said lightly and also with a smile as he looked at Hank.

“You both have been…exemplary…thank you. I just wanted to say that the security details for the upcoming trip are nearly in place and that we will be utilizing Austria again in addition to our own team,” Khalil stated.

“The whole country of Austria?” Hank asked innocently.

Boris chuckled and said, “No, Hank, eh, that is actually quite humorous; hmmm…that is also not a bad thought. Ha! In any case, Khalil and I have utilized the services of a private security team who are based out of Austria many times in the past; Khalil and I simply call that team ‘Austria’ as a…”

“Code name! I get it! That’s cool,” Hank said happily.

Khalil smiled at Hank’s innocence and continued, “There will be six of them in total and they will scout our locations prior to our arrivals in those locations, with two in transit to the next location; essentially, we are implementing a rolling wave. It will be seamless and as usual neither of you should notice any difference. My team and I, and Udo, will know them and at least three of them will be in our sights at all times.”

Hank started to feel a little bit of trepidation to all of this, security stuff always made him worry, but he worked hard to keep it from his face. He nodded as if he was confident and in agreement (which he actually was but didn’t admit that to himself); Boris was pleased at Khalil’s information and felt no concern at all as this was very familiar to him.

“Except for the President’s home, your lodgings will also be pre-inspected by Austria as well as the vehicles that Udo is leasing at each location. May I confirm with you, Sir,” and Khalil looked at Boris directly, “That K and J know nothing of this trip?”

Boris nodded confidently, “Ja, Khalil, they have not been informed of this excursion of ours, and I do not think that President Albert will say anything as well; now unless the Rateniczes have mentioned anything, which I highly doubt, as K and J do not fancy speaking with them at all, I would think that the way is clear for us.”

“’K’ and ‘J’?” Hank asked.

“Yes, Sir…” Khalil started to say and then Hank interrupted him.

“Oh, I get it! ‘K’ is for Kuester and ‘J’ is for von Jurgens,” Hank said with the smile and a nod of understanding.

Boris smiled slightly as he was very amused by Hank at the moment; Hank smiled with pride at Boris. 

“We shall never trust K and J ever again and so, how do you say it, Hank? What they will not know, will not hurt them, er, or us for that matter, ja?” Boris stated.

Khalil nodded and asked, “The only weak link is if someone in the Ratenicz sphere, perhaps a household member, has connections to K and J. We do not have intelligence to this, nor to the negative, but it is always a possibility. Since this visit is the last location on the itinerary, the rolling wave of all six of Austria will be in St. Petersburg with us by that time.”

“Are you comfortable with all of this, Khalil?” Boris asked.

“I am, to a degree; I just wish I knew if there is a mole in St. Petersburg,” Khalil stated and then asked, “How will the Ratenicz group respond to your extra security? My team and I will be with you both for nearly every moment and Austria will be outside with the vehicles.”

Boris looked thoughtful for a moment and said, “They know I do not travel light, they are savvy about the ways of the world and intrigue – they have created some of that themselves over the years; they would be surprised, I think, if the extra security presence was not with us, considering what had happened to Hank. If they are unnerved, I will assure and impress upon them of this necessity and extend protection to them, if something were to go amiss. If I am unable to assuage their concerns, then we will all simply leave.”

Boris paused a moment, and then continued, “Let us have a little faith in the animosity that K and J hold against the Rateniczes and the distrust that the Rateniczes harbor against K and J; perhaps all of that…highly unproductive and distracting energy will provide us, along with you, your team, and Austria, with an unencumbered visit and smooth passage,” Boris said in his business tone of a voice.

“Yes, Sir, may I say that it all sounds ridiculous, but it is probably true,” Khalil said.

Hank couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but then thought to himself, ‘This is what I signed up for when I married Boris. He warned me. I’m glad that I’ve almost had a year to sorta get used to this; my old life was so dull!’

“Ja, I know, Khalil, and we know that to attain success we always must use the knowledge of things to our advantage,” Boris said confidently as he took a sip of his coffee.

Hank recalled in his mind what Boris had told him when they visited the museum; now here was Boris, the adult, using details he knew about the family politics to get what he wanted – a safe trip, going where he wanted to go, when he wanted to do it, and flying under the radar of troublesome family attention.

“One last thing, Sirs, I have a request,” Khalil said respectfully with concern as he moved slightly and sat up very straight with his hands clasped in his lap.

“Of course, Khalil, what may we do for you?” Boris replied with a friendly expression and tone of voice and became interested with Khalil’s change of energy.

Khalil hesitated for a moment as he looked at both Boris and Hank, for a lingered moment, and then sincerely said, “Please, Sirs, if you respect me in even the smallest amount, please do not play in the snow during this trip.”

Boris actually laughed out loud and heartily, which helped Khalil to release the tension he held about the situation; Khalil chuckled.

Hank laughed at this point as well because he then understood what Khalil was referring to and it wasn’t actually about playing in the snow.

‘Play in the snow’ had actually become a code phrase for mischievous behavior at Shadow Pond; the trip to St. Lucia and the multiple antics that Boris and Hank had pulled there, along with the impromptu snowball Battle for the Shadow Pond Entrance Gate event had created this new phrase that had been added to Shadow Pond security terminology.

“That is so delightful,” Boris said as caught his breath, “Simply delightful,” Boris looked at Hank and then back at Khalil, “We will be on our best behavior this trip, Khalil, we promise,” Boris placed his hand at his heart and bowed his head slightly towards Khalil as he chuckled.

 

~~~

 

“Uh, Boris? There is a small army out there,” Hank said nervously as he looked out of the Gulfstream’s cabin window.

“I am not surprised,” Boris said calmly.

Hank looked at Udo and Khalil and they didn’t appear to be unnerved like he was.

Their Gulfstream G650 had landed at Cologne Bonn Airport after a relatively smooth eleven hour flight. They left Teterboro Private Airport in New Jersey at midnight and arrived in Germany late in the morning. The plane taxied to the private aircraft area and parked; on the apron just outside of a hangar, awaited Albert, Boris’ close friend and the President of the Federal Police in Bonn, Germany with six of his lieutenants flanking him. All seven men were NOT small in stature and as they were all in uniform, and standing at attention; they presented quite an imposing image…

…Especially to Hank.

Yussef opened the aircraft door and the Cologne Bonn Airport support personnel moved and secured the ramp so that everyone would be able to deplane. Khalil and Anton, exited first, followed by Boris and Hank, then Udo, and lastly Richard; Jacob would stay with Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine as they further secured the plane. The three of them came down the ramp a few moments later.

Everyone except Boris was on high alert and scanned the area around them. Hank was nervous and just watched Boris and a gentleman whom he assumed was the President; Hank kept glancing over at Udo and to Boris, Udo looked ‘cool as a cucumber’ (Hank’s words). 

Khalil saw the six members of Austria surrounding their automobiles and nodded slightly; their leader nodded slightly back at Khalil. The Austria team was dressed similarly to the President’s lieutenants and so to Hank’s eyes, there were a total of ten German police officers surrounding them. Hank thought to himself, ‘I haven’t even done anything illegal and I still feel like I’m in trouble. Breathe, Hank, you are probably in the safest place on earth at this moment. Just follow Boris’ lead.’

The Shadow Pond team fanned out and then Boris and Hank stepped further onto the apron with Udo just behind them and to their left. Hank noticed that Boris was staring at the President and the President was staring back at Boris. Both had extremely serious expressions on their faces and their postures were rigid and to Hank, they both looked to be about seven feet tall.

President Albert was the same height as Boris but Albert was brawny and had dark blue eyes; Albert was also very bald but had substantial and expressive blonde eyebrows and an equally substantial blonde handlebar mustache which curled tightly upward at the wide ends.

Albert and Boris strode toward one another in long fast strides and continued to stare at one another for a brief moment more and then they smiled widely, laughed and embraced each other fiercely. 

Albert’s baritone voice loudly said (in German), “Boris, my old friend, welcome back to Bonn!”

Boris deep voice loudly responded (in German), “Ah, Albert, it does my heart good to see you once again!”

There was a lot of patting on the back and shaking hands and several more comments, in German, about how well they both looked to each other and just how long it had been since they had seen each other.

Hank then realized that he had been holding his breath.

Boris put his arm around Albert’s shoulders, guided them forward a few steps, and turned back to face Hank and Udo and said (in English), “Albert, you remember our assistant, Udo, ja?”

Udo bowed deeply to President Albert.

“Welcome back, Udo, it is good to see you again!” Albert said cheerfully in English even though he knew that Udo was fluent in German; Albert spoke fluent English now for Hank’s benefit as Boris had told Albert that Hank did not understand German; then Albert continued, “Udo, has Boris been behaving himself?”

“Oh, no, President Albert, not in the least bit!” Udo said; this was a standard question and respond between Udo and Albert.

Boris, still with his arm around Albert’s shoulders, waved Hank forward to walk closer to them and said, “Albert,” As Hank walked forward to meet them, Boris said with a smile and in a respectful and proud voice, “I should like to present to you my husband, Dr. Hank Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz.”

Hank stood tall and looked directly up into Albert’s eyes, his chin up and said proudly, “Good morning, President Albert. I am pleased to make your acquaintance,” And Hank reached out his hand to shake Albert’s hand.

Boris had removed his arm from Albert’s shoulders, stepped slightly aside, and looked fondly at Hank, then watched Albert shake Hank’s hand.

Albert said warmly, “Welcome to Bonn, Doctor, I am so very pleased to meet you, also. It is an honor for me to finally meet the husband of one of my dearest friends. But I shall call you Dr. Henry because I need my own name for you!” Albert laughed and then grabbed Hank in a bear hug that effectively knocked the wind out of Hank.

Hank thought to himself, ‘Now I know how Boris feels when Evan gives him a bear hug!’

Albert continued, “What a prize you have in him, Dr. Henry! Was it difficult to capture this buck? He is a wily one; you know that by now, yes? (Albert knew that Boris’ family symbol was the rearing buck.) 

When Hank could breathe again, he replied with a smile, “Uh, no, Sir, he kinda caught me.” 

Boris smiled widely.

Albert then said, “Dr. Henry, first, please call me Albert; none of this ‘Sir’ nonsense, you are not one of my officers; and second, the term ‘Waidmannsheil’ is both a greeting exchanged by hunters as well as congratulation for a successful hunt. Well, then waidmannsheil to you both!” Albert laughed heartily and was followed by Boris and then somewhat nervously by Hank.

Two BMW X5 M SUV’s and one BMW X6 Limousine, all in dark grey, were leased for that portion of the trip. Anton, Yussef, Frank and Catherine were in SUV1; Richard and Jacob, plus two of the Austria team in SUV2, Khalil drove the limousine with Udo in shotgun and Boris, Hank and Alfred in the private cabin. The remaining members of Austria were in their own black vehicle, its emblems had been removed so one couldn’t tell what make and model it was. Two Bonn police cars each held three of Albert’s lieutenants.

They drove through the city and at the outskirts, the caravan became smaller as the two police cars peeled off and returned to the city center. The drive to Albert’s family estate home in Piesport, in the middle wine region of the Rhine, was about two hours away and so Boris, Albert and Hank had an opportunity to talk as they rode in the limousine through the beautiful, rolling German countryside. It was late March and spring was attempting to revive the area after winter; patches of green were seen on the hills and the trees.

Udo had the passenger cabin of the limo stocked with water, coffee, and Riesling wine for the men’s comfort.

Over coffee, poured by Boris, the men enjoyed each other’s company and conversed.

“Hank, you will truly appreciate staying at Albert’s home, it is splendid,” Boris said.

“Yes, it is, but it is not as large as Shadow Pond. How do you like living in that enormous house, Dr. Henry?” Albert asked.

“I love it there; it took me a while to get used to the big spaces and I’ll never know where everything is, like Boris does, but that’s okay,” Hank replied.

“Ah, but Hank, that is why you married me, so I can help you now find things in the house,” Boris said jokingly.

Albert watched the two of them interact and felt truly happy for his old friend Boris; to Albert, Boris looked happier than he had in many decades.

Hank asked, “How did you two meet?”

Albert said, “As a young man, Boris lived in both Bonn with the Kuesters some time throughout each year, and also in Dresden with von Jurgens during other times of the year. That is, of course, when he wasn’t roaming around the world to places like Africa, America, Thailand, Tibet, and some secret places he never talks about, oh, and with his other relations in Russia also. When Boris was in Bonn, he and I became friends one night while we drank in a tavern, which has since become what we call ‘our tavern’. We don’t actually own the tavern, we just act like we do.”

“Much to the annoyance of the real owner,” Boris stated, “Should we just purchase the tavern, Albert?”

Albert continued, “Perhaps, and we used to drink and sing together at the tavern. We continued to meet there every week, when Boris was in town, and we became confidants by sharing our general frustrations about being young men in a world that didn’t understand us. Sometimes, we celebrated too much and got in trouble – we may have had some disagreements with other tavern patrons over local and world politics.”

Boris then said, “Do not forget Albert, there was some dancing, as well. In any case, when we were brought into the local police station to get over our drunken behavior, we would start singing and soon the whole station was singing together; such fun times, ja, Albert?”

“Wonderful times, yes! Time went by and we both went on to do worldly things as we matured, but we have kept in contact with each other throughout the years and have remained friends to this day. We have visited each other, too, whenever we could,” Albert stated.

“That’s great; sounds like you’ve both had some wonderful times together,” Hank said with a smile as he looked at Boris.

 

Albert’s large country family estate was in the middle Rhine region and the house and grounds were surrounded by vineyards on all sides; there were rooms for everyone, including the members of Austria. Albert had his own personal security force and so Khalil’s team and Albert’s team quickly made ‘friends’. (Austria kept to themselves as usual.)

The beautiful castle-like home was ornately decorated and furnished with priceless antiques collected over the generations as Albert’s family was nearly as old as Boris’, but did not have the long noble lineage; that fact never bothered Boris or Albert in the least bit. 

Boris and Hank were welcomed by Albert’s wife during lunch, Federica, a petite woman who looked even smaller than her five foot, four inch height when she stood next to her six foot tall husband; she had long blonde hair, green eyes and was very elegant in almost a fragile way, but as she greeted the men in her perfect British English accent one could tell that she was extremely sharp, highly intelligent, and most likely a force to be reckoned with. Federica was a professor at the University of Bonn where she taught history and she apologized that all of their 5 children were currently away at school and felt badly that that Boris and Hank could not meet with them, “…but perhaps next time.”

Dr. Hank told Albert that throughout the trip, he wanted Boris to relax on their days of travel and Albert suggested that they rest up in their rooms and ready themselves for the dinner feast which their chef was preparing for later that evening.

“I’ll come and get you from your rooms at six and we can start with some wines and sausages!” Albert said enthusiastically.

 

~~~

 

“Good morning, Boris,” Hank said cheerfully but quietly.

“Mmmm, please do not shout, Hank. Ja, good morning to you as well,” Boris replied from where his face was buried in the pillow.

“Somebody’s got a hangover,” Hank whispered teasingly in a sing song manner.

“Mmmm,” Boris moaned.

“I’ll get you a glass of water and ibuprofen,” Hank said softly and stood up from where he was seated next to Boris on the bed. Hank had awakened and dressed and had been watching Boris sleep when at just before nine a.m., Hank decided to wake Boris and try and get him started on the day.

From the pillow, Boris asked, “May I please have two pills?” 

 

There had been a feast indeed and there had also been a lot of drinking especially by two of attendees of the feast. At one point in the evening, Albert and Boris were seated off in one of the lounging areas of the vast living room of the estate house and they drank and reminisced loudly about the past. As more of the beer went into them, the more German verbiage came out of them and Hank gave up trying to understand them when only every fifth word or so was English.

Federica came to Hank’s rescue and the two of them then sat in a quiet corner of the living room, opposite of the soon-to-be-drunkards, at first enjoying wine, but then they intelligently moved on to coffee. They enjoyed each other’s company very much and were able to learn about each other as well as about their spouses.

“It is a very good thing, Hank, that they do not do this all of the time,” Federica said pleasantly as she sipped her coffee.

“Yeah, everything in moderation,” Hank said with a smile, “I don’t know about Albert, but Boris is going to be in a world of hurt tomorrow morning.” Hank knew that he should have stopped Boris from drinking too much, but Boris just looked so happy to spend time with Albert and well, Hank supposed that reminiscing was thirsty business. 

“And I am certain that you are also viewing their decadent behavior from a medical point of view,” Federica stated.

“I know exactly what’s happening to their livers right now…” Hank said somewhat sadly.

 

And because of the festive evening, breakfast was cancelled and a late morning brunch was arranged and it was Federica’s and Hank’s jobs to get their husbands up and about for it. The promise of food and copious amounts of coffee did the trick and soon all four of them were seated at the dining table.

To Hank’s eyes, Albert looked like he had fared better than Boris did, but of course, Hank knew Boris better and also from a medical point of view. Hank knew that Boris felt like crap and subtly pressed upon Boris to drink more water throughout the morning. Hank had to remind Boris to take his medication and was pleased that Boris actually ate more than he usually did in the morning.

Brunch conversation was lively and both men apologized to Federica and Hank for their juvenile behavior; but both Federica and Hank caught the gleam in Albert’s and Boris’ eyes which told them both that the apology was half-hearted and that although Albert and Boris were paying for their over-indulgence with splitting headaches, they enjoyed their visit with each other a great deal.

 

After brunch, Hank suggested that Boris lie down for a nap and as he saw sense to this suggestion, Boris begged everyone’s forgiveness and asked that he be given a few hours to ‘rest his eyes’; he returned to his and Hank’s room to lie down.

Federica left them to attend to household business and Albert then invited Hank to sit with him and talk over coffee in Albert’s study. As they settled on the chairs in front of the fireplace, Albert openly and somewhat formally asked Hank for his friendship and Hank wholeheartedly agreed. Hank had quickly grown to like Albert and Albert felt the same way for Hank.

“How do you feel, Albert? This is my doctor side asking,” Hank asked politely, “You two did a lot of drinking last night.”

“Oh, I am fine; my head ache is gone. I could always drink more than Boris! I told him once that he needed to wear more muscle like me, that skinny man,” Albert pounded his barrel chest with his fist, “And then we could compete at the tavern properly! He would always keep up with me glass for glass, but at the end of the night, I would have to carry him to a bed to sleep it off,” Albert said cheerfully.

“I can see that happening,” Hank said with a laugh.

Albert asked, “Is my dear friend all right, Dr. Henry? He appears so different than when we last visited each other.” 

“Different? What do you mean?” Hank replied.

“He is even more serious now, but when he smiles his face shines and this is very good, it is not a bad serious; maybe more intense, more at peace? And he smiles more now! I am having difficulty trying to describe this,” Albert said.

“During the last year, a lot has happened to Boris and he was very ill for a long while. We nearly lost him,” Hank said sadly.

Albert exclaimed, first in German and then quickly back to English, “Was?! He did not tell me this! I will have to admonish him for excluding me!” 

Hank tried to assure Albert, “Well, he excluded other people too who should have known about his needs, like me and even Udo and Khalil. Family issues were a major cause to his falling ill, and he sorta needed something else, too...he had a longing for someone...which added to his illness, but he was strong and bounced back. He is very healthy right now and I watch over him closely and try to make sure his health stays where it should be. For Boris, maintaining his health is now an ongoing battle.” 

“He has always been strong you know, Dr. Henry. You have always been his American doctor?” Albert asked.

“Well, only just within the last five years off and on –that’s a long story; but it wasn’t until last year that we became more involved with each other and I was lucky to be around him at just the right time to help him back to health. He was seriously ill. Our friendship became something much greater through that time.” Hank smiled calmly and felt pride in sharing this with Albert. 

“I will say that I see that my friend is happier now than when I saw him last. He has always been so lonely…I think that is the right word. Is this the other thing you say he needed? Did his loneliness make him ill?” Albert offered.

Hank said with all honesty, “Yeah, I believe it was a very big factor.” 

Albert continued, “He had always been searching for someone special to be with him, like the rest of us, yes? And he wanted someone to understand him, to trust him, and accept his complicated nature; very specific qualifications he wanted; he was hurt very deeply, twice, and so much so that he gave up his search completely. His family made it difficult, too. I see how he looks at you, Dr. Henry, and I have NEVER seen that look on his face before; it is a wonderful look for him; I know he has found now what he had searched for in you. My heart feels happiness for my old friend. I should like to ask how the two of you met and since we have the honesty of friendship between us, I must admit that I am surprised that…” Albert scratched his bald head and dragged his right thumb across the bottom edge of his thick mustache, first the right side and then the left side (a frequent mannerism Hank had noticed) and said... “I am trying to find the correct and polite words in English…” 

“You are surprised that he married a man instead of a woman?” Hank said with a smile.

“You come straight to the point! I like you a lot Dr. Henry! He told me that you are courageous on many levels. Yes, this is what I meant. It matters not to me that you are a man, I am just curious you know; I am police, we are by nature curious; he had just never expressed interest in someone of our gender, you know? Maybe that was one of his secrets. Boris keeps a lot of secrets. But I personally only want my dear friend to be happy in love. I am happy in love with my wife – she is a goddess to me! I only want Boris to be happy in love and if it is with you, his husband, then this is what is best for him and I approve,” Albert laughed, “What more to life is there, huh?” 

Hank laughed as well, “Yeah, Albert, you’re so right about that.” 

“You are obviously happy in love with him too?” Albert asked cautiously.

“Oh yes, I am, Albert. To be honest, I was never interested in someone of our gender either. And I was looking for someone, too. I was, um, surprised when it happened,” Hank said cheerfully.

Albert then said, “All of the great poets and writers talk about pure love, I wonder if they really know that it goes beyond what we are in body, you know?” Alfred looked seriously now at Hank, his expressive eyebrows furrowing and dark eyes focused on Hank’s eyes to make his point, “Do you promise me that you will take good care of him, not only as his doctor, but especially as his husband, always?” 

“Yes, Albert, I promised to do that when we got married, I promise you that now, and I will always take good care of Boris,” Hank said sincerely.

“This is good for me to know. He will take good care of you as well, you will know that to be true! Tell me, now that our business is done, how did you meet my friend?” Albert offered enthusiastically.

Hank began, “Uh, well, it was weird, um, strange I mean, Boris hosted a large party at Shadow Pond a few years ago, and my brother crashed the party and dragged me with him to the party; I didn’t want to go, I had just broken up with…someone. One of the guests at the party became ill and there was another doctor there, but he wasn’t going to do the right treatment and I stopped him. Boris and I met at that moment when I was able to help the guest. One thing led to another and Boris invited me, and my brother, to stay in his guest house – he actually kicked out the other doctor who was living there – and my brother and I have been there ever since. At the beginning, I tried to take care of Boris, but he and I are both…” 

Albert interrupted Hank, “You are both stubborn, I can understand this. I know Boris, yes, he can be so very stubborn. I am surprised that his stubbornness has not killed him yet. But do not misunderstand me; I am happy that it has not!” 

Hank continued, “Yeah, and I wasn’t as dedicated to being his doctor as I should have been back then, and that is something I will always feel very bad about; but he also didn’t tell me how sick he really was. That all came to a head one evening almost a year ago and…well, the rest is history and now we are both here together visiting you.”

“Oh, what a situation; life is so complex,” Albert replied.

Albert and Hank then continued to talk about other things, Hank wanted to know more about the area in Germany where they were and Albert’s family estate. 

 

After a long while, Boris awoke from his nap and asked a maid he met in the hallway if she knew where Hank and Albert were. She escorted him to the study. Along the way, he met Udo and Udo assured him that all was peaceful and secure.

“Are you well, Master?” Udo asked gently.

Boris smiled and said, “Ja, I am well, Udo.”

 

Boris leaned against the doorway of Albert’s study with his arms crossed at his chest as he admired the view of Hank and Albert each sitting on a chair in front of a fire in the fireplace as they drank coffee and talked. Boris had a pleased smile on his face as he listened to them talk about Albert’s vineyard when he said, “And perhaps we shall have some of that delightful Riesling with our dinner tonight, ja?” 

Both men turned quickly at the sound of Boris’ voice and smiled at him; Boris walked over to where they were and patted each man on their shoulder, his hand lingered slightly longer on Hank’s shoulder. Albert saw this and smiled wider which made his impressive moustache look even larger.

Albert looked at Hank, pointed a thumb at Boris, and said, “He is silent and stealthy, this one, yes?”

“Albert, he sneaks up on me all the time at home! Hi Boris! How was your nap?” asked Hank as he looked up at Boris, “You look rested.” 

“Splendid, indeed, that nap was heavenly,” Boris said calmly as he felt much better and the headache was gone.

“My house is quiet, huh, Boris? For sleeping, I sleep very soundly here; I think the surrounding vineyard eats the sounds from the roads and the ships on the river,” said Albert, “Come sit, Boris, and have coffee with us.” 

Boris sat down in a chair adjacent to Hank and they exchanged glances.

Albert stood up and poured a cup of coffee from the coffee service which had been set on the coffee table in front of them and then stepped over to hand the cup to Boris and said, “Dr. Henry and I have been having a wonderful conversation this afternoon.” 

“Thank you for the coffee, Albert, and your patience with me. I was not expecting to sleep like the dead in the middle of the afternoon,” Boris said and then took a sip of the coffee.

“Oh, no matter, Boris, you feel better now, yes?” Albert asked.

“Ja, I do. When I follow Hank’s instructions, I always feel better.” Boris said and smiled at Hank fondly.

Albert’s eyebrows moved into serious mode, he smoothed his mustache, and said to Boris, “Dr. Henry knows what he is talking about and you, old friend, need to always listen to him. Now, tell me, Boris, why did you not tell me that you were ill last year? You and your verdammt secrets – bah! I could be very upset with you right now. Oh, do not get that expression on your face, you should know by now that you are surrounded by we,” Albert waved a hand between himself and Hank, “Who care about you and it is past the time in your life to hold it in. I am certain that Udo and Khalil are this space I speak of, too! You have always done that. Remember? I did that too, until you and I either drank it out or beat it out of each other, yes?”

Boris laughed and held up a hand, palm outward from himself, “In my defense, Albert, I had an angry, secretive, young man image to uphold.”

“Well, Boris, you are no longer angry and you are no longer young and you have too many secrets to keep, so as your happy and old friend who has no secrets, I say, be good to yourself for once, give up your secrets and enjoy your new life with your remarkable husband!” Albert offered and enthusiastically waved a hand towards Hank.

Hank nodded and smiled widely with a little bit of a smug expression as all three men chuckled together and sipped on their coffees.

Hank asked with curiosity, “So, tell me about the beating it out of each other.”

Boris and Albert laughed at the same time and Boris held his hand out graciously toward Albert as if to give him permission to speak first and Albert said, “Oh no, Boris, YOU need to tell YOUR husband about our youthful wild behavior!”

Boris smiled and said, “Well, Hank,” He took a sip of coffee, “Albert and I have had disagreements during the early years of our friendship and when we were young - our energies could not be contained. We were very opinionated, tremendously strong, overly cocksure, and quite foolish all at the same time. There were three times, which we both agreed upon later, and blamed the excessive amount of brew which we consumed, that was the cause of our lack respectful behavior toward one another.”

Albert chuckled and nodded his head at the memories of these times.

Boris continued, “Albert here is an exceedingly good boxer and it is a wonder that I still have a face and internal organs which still function after the poundings I took from this man.”

Albert replied, “And Dr. Henry, your husband here is very skilled at that fancy Oriental type of fighting which uses very little movement but slams the opponent to the ground. Oh, my ribs!”

Boris laughed heartily, “Albert, remember the alley way and the mud puddle?”

Albert almost choked on his coffee as he laughed at Boris' question, “HA! I do, oh the saints! Yes, Dr. Henry, our brawl that night took us into an alley way near our favorite tavern and it had rained heavily that day which caused the alley way to flood.”

Boris then added, “We did not know that there was an enormous hole in the alley way and we did not know the hole had filled with dank water; it was dark and in the middle of the night. We thought it was just a thin layer of water on ground. This hole, which we promptly fell into whilst we were fighting, was two feet deep. And in our inebriated state…”

Albert continued, “…We nearly drowned together! We promised that night that we would never come to fisticuffs, or any form of battle against each other ever again.”

All three men laughed together and Hank felt so grateful to be where he was at that moment; learning about his husband’s younger, wilder days and making a new friend in Albert.

“Come!” Albert announced, “Let us take a walk in my vineyard! The fresh air will do us good!”

 

As they walked in the vineyard, the air was crisp, the sky was clear and the sun was bright. All three men were dressed properly for the late winter/early spring weather in wool coats, scarves, and leather gloves.

“Are you warm enough, Boris?” Hank asked sincerely as Hank held Boris’ upper arm.

“Ja, I am quite fine, thank you, Hank, the sun feels glorious,” Boris replied as he smiled at Hank and did the same with Hank’s arm.

Albert watched them interact and felt comforted.

Boris then sincerely thanked Albert for his help with the family issues. Albert expressed concern that Hank was now fully healed from the attack and Hank assured Albert that he was ‘100%’ and that the scar had faded somewhat. Albert then said to both Boris and Hank that everything which was related to the situation had been properly and lawfully managed and that it would be a long time before the assailant would be “free to make better decisions with how he would live the rest of his life.”

 

~~~

 

The next day, the Shadow Pond and Austria teams mobilized the cars and coordinated security plans as Albert wished to take Boris and Hank to his office and a tour at the main police station in Bonn; afterwards, they would visit Albert’s favorite restaurant for an early dinner and then Boris and Albert wanted to take Hank to their favorite tavern for just ‘one drink’. 

 

While at the police station, Albert and Boris challenged each other to a shooting match in the indoor gun range. The loser had to buy the first round of drinks at the tavern. Hank watched in amazement as the two men kept hitting bull’s eyes even though the targets were placed farther and farther away. Albert was an exceptional shooter, but Boris won the challenge. Hank felt very proud, and slightly fearful, as he watched Boris aim, shoot and easily, and rapidly, hit the target multiple times inside the bull’s eye; the look of severe, yet calm concentration on Boris’ face was something that Hank had never seen before.

Albert said as he accepted defeat, “You want to be on this man’s team in a fire fight, Dr. Henry. Are you still certain, Boris that you do not want to come and work for me? I have a sharp-shooter position I need to fill…”

 

The dinner that evening at Equu, an international fine dining restaurant in the center of Bonn, was ‘divine’ (Boris’ words). Hank watched as the restaurant effortlessly accommodated them and their security teams and made it look like there were simply many people enjoying their meals at multiple tables instead of a ‘military-style security operation’ (Hank’s words) – which is what Hank really thought it looked like. Albert was known at the restaurant and he asked of the restaurant’s manager that since his friends from America were joining him for dinner that night and had never been to Equu, “…Perhaps we could request something special from the kitchen…” They were treated very well.

 

Three and half hours later, the entourage pulled up near Albert’s and Boris’ tavern. The street that the tavern was on was actually a street that cars were not allowed to drive upon and so they had to walk a block along the cobblestoned ground in between and under the overhanging second stories of old buildings. This was the ‘old part of town’. 

Khalil, of course, was concerned at the exposure this posed, mentioned this to the three men with all of the concern he could muster. He sent Yussef and Anton ahead to scout and asked the gentlemen to please be careful. He, Udo, and Richard would be shadowing them and Austria stayed with the cars and watched the surroundings. All were in radio contact.

As Boris, Hank and Albert, stood in front of Khalil, but next to the limousine awaiting an ‘all clear’ code from Yussef, Boris said confidently, “We are not playing in the snow, Khalil, all will be well. I have made certain over the years that K nor J know nothing of this place.”

Hank said with a smile, “We’ll be okay, Khalil, we totally have faith in you and your team.”

Albert said, “So, Khalil, I am extremely impressed with you and your team; when you become weary or bored of working for Boris and Dr. Henry, you should come and work for me!”

 

The looks on Albert’s and Boris’ faces, when all of them entered the semi-dark tavern, were looks of pure joy. They patted one another on their shoulders forcefully as fond memories flooded their minds; and they were even more pleased to see that their favorite table, one tucked away in a corner which had a full view of the entire room and bar was empty and they made a beeline to that table and settled themselves in. Khalil, Udo, and the rest of the team situated themselves in small groups at other tables around the tavern and especially at the two doorways.

Hank started to sit down on a chair at ‘their’ table and Albert said, “Oh, I am sorry, Dr. Henry, you cannot sit there. That is Boris’ chair. Here, sit over here, this is a good seat, too.”

Boris and Albert sat next to the wall and Hank was seated next to Boris.

Beer was on tap and it was what one drank at the tavern. There was a pilsner and a doppelbock available from a just-down-the-street brewer who had supplied the tavern for well over fifty years. A server came to their table and Albert held up his hand, his thumb and two fingers extended. 

Albert said, “One dark, two light.”

The server nodded and went to the bar to prepare their steins. No other words were spoken. He quickly returned with three steins of beer and he placed them on the center of the table. Albert grabbed the handles and pushed the dark beer to Boris and the pilsner to Hank and then himself.

Boris asked, “Is anyone still here who would know of us?”

Albert looked sad for a moment and replied, “No, they are all dead.”

The three men held up their steins and Boris made a toast, “To the dead, we remember you fondly.”

 

‘One drink’ was not enough. After Hank had two, Boris had three, and Albert who always drank faster and was actually on his fourth beer, asked Boris, “This feels like a homecoming, yes, old friend?”

Swallowing a drink of his beer, Boris replied, “Ja, nothing has changed except us perhaps; look Albert…” And Boris pointed to a spot on the table that had been worn down and somewhat filled in with the dirt of the decades the table had stood there.

“Seriously? You two carved your initials into the table?” Hank said almost too loudly.

“Shhh, we don’t want to get in trouble – again – for this,” Albert said, feeling very happy to remember that situation.

Boris chuckled, rubbed his eyes and shook his head.

“You know what that shows?” Hank said and thought that he should really find the bathroom.

Boris said with a big smile; (his dark beer, which was slightly higher in alcohol than the pilsner, had loosened Boris up quite a bit and Hank could tell that Boris was going to start slurring his words soon), “Albert, you are now going to receive a lesson in American slang terminology. No, Hank, so tell us, what does that ssshow?”

“Uh, stuff that guys do together, as guys who are close friends, it’s called a ‘bro-mance’,” Hank replied.

Boris rolled his eyes and leaned his head against the wall, “A what?”

“This is really a word in America?” Albert asked incredulously as he too leaned against the wall and scratched his bald pate.

“Yeah, it is. Guy friends who are close are sometimes close like brothers. That’s the ‘bro’ part. The close friendship is like a romance, so that is the ‘mance’ part. Put them together and you have ‘bro-mance’. You two have a bromance,” Hank said simply, and then said, “Excuse me, I need to use the facilities.”

Both Boris and Albert loosely waved in the same direction towards the men’s room. The team saw Hank get up and they scrambled to make sure the men’s room was secure.

While Hank was gone, Albert said (in German), “He is perfect for you.” And he fingered the ‘B’ and the ‘A’ carved into the table.

Boris said (also in German), “I know. All of those years I searched…”

Albert offered, as he continued to speak in German, “That’s the past, Boris, now you have what you have always wanted; just never let him go. You waited so long and are the epitome of patience, yes? The monks taught you well.”

Boris nodded his head and also continued in German, “Ja, I turned out to be decent enough pupil, I think…” Boris paused, “I shall never let him go,” Boris smiled slightly and looked over to where Udo and Khalil sat. 

“Do you want another beer?” Albert asked as he watched Boris take the last drink from his stein, the back of his head was still against the wall.

“Er, no, I think I shall be fortunate if I can stand up and walk out of here on my own after these three,” Boris replied as he now felt the alcohol and was very weary. His finger traced the handle on the stein.

Albert said, “We used to drink so much more; we are surely old…”

Boris replied slowly, “But are we wiser?”

Albert finished his beer just as Hank returned to the table and he asked in English, “Would YOU like another beer, Dr. Henry?”

“Uh, no, I’m good right now,” Hank said as he looked at Boris and could see that Boris, with his half-opened eyes, his head leaned against the wall and a slight grin on his lips, was done for the night, “I think it’s time for the evening to end, is that okay with both of you?” Hank nodded his head as a suggestion for them to agree with him.

Albert and Boris both responded to the affirmative but loudly and in German.

“Oh boy,” Hank said as he turned and waved over Udo, Khalil and the team.

 

~~~

 

Boris had his hand over his eyes and his head was on the pillow, “Why do I not have coffee yet?”

Albert and Hank smiled at each other as they stood by Boris’ bed side; he was still in bed and it was noon. They were both dressed for the day and Boris was still in his silk pajamas with the blanket haphazardly draped across his body and had just awakened.

“Because it’s lunch time, Boris, and you’ve been asleep all morning. Albert, can he have coffee with his lunch?” Hank asked teasingly.

“Certainly, but I thought he’d want more beer,” Albert responded with an equal sound of a tease in his voice.

“Shhh! Both of you need not to say the word ‘beer’ in my presence at this moment,” Boris replied tersely and waved them away with one hand and he grabbed blindly with the other for the pillow next to him and put it on his face.

 

Boris did finally get out of bed and washed up and dressed and was able to make it to the dining room on his own; he was shadowed by Hank and Albert and Udo. He used his cane to walk and leaned on it heavily.

The three men sat at the dining table, Udo had pardoned himself after he escorted them; Federica was at the university that day so she sent her apologies for missing lunch with them.

Hank was pleased to see that Boris had an appetite and as they ate, Hank could tell that Boris started to feel better.

Boris said, “I am simply not accustomed to so many hops and so much yeast.”

Albert said, “Never apologize for getting drunk on good German beer.”

Boris looked troubled for a moment, “Albert, we did not visit our alley way and show Hank the hole.”

“Oh yes we did, Boris, you don’t remember?” Albert asked as he looked at Boris.

“When did we do that?” Boris asked.

Hank replied, “After we left the tavern; the two of you just HAD to show me the alley way and you were both very happy that they had filled in the hole.”

“We did?” Boris asked and was confused.

“Yeah, the two of you actually recounted your fight for me, and Boris, you almost fell down on the ground!” Hank said.

“Yes, we had to catch you! I don’t think that Khalil and Udo were very happy with us last night,” Albert said.

“Huh,” Boris said and took a bite his lunch.

“Let us take a boat ride on the river this afternoon,” Albert suggested.

Boris shot him a ‘laser beam’ look and replied, “You are surely joking, Albert, ja?”

“You said you head has now cleared and the river is calm and the fresh air will be good for us,” Albert said.

“Come on, Boris, Albert’s right,” Hank said.

Boris sighed for a moment, looked at his friend and then at his husband and said flatly, “If there is just one wave which makes the boat sway or rock in the slightest bit, I shall not be held accountable for whatever bodily reactions may occur.”

 

In bed that night, Boris and Hank laid comfortably next to each other, Hank’s head on Boris’ shoulder, their arms wrapped around each other, with their eyes closed, and they talked.

“How do you feel, Boris?” Hank asked.

“Quite wonderful now, only sleepy; and yes, I will admit that the boat ride was pleasant,” Boris said.

“This part of our trip has been terrific. I really like Albert, Federica is a wonderful lady; and I especially enjoyed learning about your early years and your past with him,” Hank said with a smile, “I’m married to a wild man!” Hank hugged Boris a little tighter.

Boris chuckled and admitted, “Albert is quite fond of you as well; thank you for putting up with my, er, drunkenness.”

“You warned me that would happen when we would come here, it’s okay, really, it was manageable, but you are going to have to take it easy for a few days. Please give your liver a rest,” Hank said, “You know, I will always agree to coming back here, just so long as we have Albert and Federica to visit and uh, that we don’t run into any K…people.”

They were quiet for a few moments and then Hank said, “Tomorrow is Budapest, huh?”

“Ja,” Boris said simply, “I look forward to paying my respects to Dima.”

“I can imagine that you miss him, are you going to be okay?” Hank asked tentatively.

Boris turned his head slightly to look at Hank, he knitted his brows; Hank looked at Boris and then Boris asked, “You are concerned for me?”

“Visiting a loved one’s grave is usually pretty serious, and well, you know I always worry about you,” Hank said kindly as he put his head back down on Boris’ shoulder.

“I understand that and am grateful for your concern. I believe I will be just fine, I have you by my side,” Boris said and he stretched his neck slightly to kiss Hank on the forehead, “Sleep now, my beloved One.”

 

~~~

 

Boris and Hank said their goodbyes to Alfred and Federica after breakfast and it was bittersweet because they didn’t want to leave and Alfred and Federica didn’t want them to go. But the ever practical Federica said that if they didn’t separate, to meet and enjoy each other’s company yet another day, Germany would not have an opportunity rebuild its stores of beer. Albert’s response was that he and Boris could start on wine after they ran out of beer and reminded her that they were surrounded by a vineyard and its winery.

As Boris and Albert embraced, Boris said, “Shadow Pond’s doors are always open to you and Federica. Thank you, Albert, for this lifetime of friendship.”

Albert replied, “And there are so many more years left in both of our books, friend Boris.”

 

The flight from Cologne Bonn Airport to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport was less than two hours and the drive from the airport to the Hilton Budapest via Route 4 only a little over one half of an hour. The hotel was located on the west side of the Danube River in the Buda portion of the city. All security measures arranged by Khalil were set in place and the process he had organized functioned like a well-oiled machine.

After they were all settled into their suites, Khalil reconvened with his team and the leader of the Austria team in his suite to compare notes and prepare for the next day and onward. Everything was going as planned and nothing untoward had been detected. Two of the Austria team were stationed on guard out in the hallway.

Boris and Hank were settled into the 1700 square foot Presidential Suite that had a spectacular view of the Danube River and the City Center from one entire side of the suite. The room itself was decorated in a very modern style which gave it a clean and crisp if not slightly austere feel. Boris gave Udo a look which Udo knew was that Boris wanted the Bell Captain the leave now; Boris also changed his mind and requested that their lunch be brought to the suite. Udo made sure these arrangements happened quickly as he could tell that Boris had become as he usually did when they came to Budapest and that he wanted no more interruptions or contact with other people. Hank watched and marveled at the communications between Boris and Udo.

Udo’s Butler Room was connected to their suite with a double door/hallway system which could be secured and provided privacy. The other five rooms reserved for the entourage surrounded the Presidential Suite and occupied the north half of the top floor of the hotel. This worked extremely well the many times that they come to Budapest. Their travels to Budapest were always a challenge and Udo felt now that Dr. Hank was with them, the situation would be all the more better for Boris. Khalil was pleased with the set up as well as it was easily defendable.

Hank saw that Boris become quiet during the flight from Bonn and guessed that Boris was sad to leave Albert and was preparing himself to visit Dima. Boris had withdrawn further as they got closer to the hotel. Boris now stood in his standard contemplative manner, arms crossed at his chest and his right hand smoothing his circle beard, and gazed out of a dining area window at the Danube and the City Center, Hank took Udo into Udo’s room and quietly asked, “What can I do to make this part of the trip better for Boris? I’ve not been in this type of a situation before with him, but you have. Is there anything that I can do to help you, Udo?”

“Dr. Hank, you are so kind to make this offer, thank you, Sir. No, everything is actually going well, although you may not think or feel that it is. The fact that he wants lunch in the suite is good, it most likely means that he will eat and he is simply gathering his strength for the visit to the cemetery tomorrow. Just be yourself,” Udo smiled at Hank and touched his arm to comfort him.

Boris stood at the window for about fifteen minutes until Udo announced that lunch had arrived and then Boris walked to a seating area which was on the other side of a wall that separated it from the dining area. Hank couldn’t decide if Boris was being considerate to the service staff to give them space to set up the lunch or that he needed privacy and didn’t want to even see other people. Hank then decided that it was probably the latter, based on the expression on Boris’ face.

Hank went over to Boris and placed his hand gently on Boris’ upper arm. Boris moved his hand to cover Hank’s hand, turned slightly and looked at Hank fondly. Boris studied Hank’s face for a moment, slightly tilting his head one way and then the other as he looked at Hank with the slightest of smiles, and then Boris embraced Hank. They both quietly stared out of the window at the city/river view for a few moments.

“I am very happy that you are here with me, Hank; your presence makes this trip quite different than the last times I have done this…and… I do not feel so alone now,” Boris said quietly.

Hank replied, “I’m glad to be here with you, Boris. Will you please tell me if there is anything I can do for you? I’d like to help out in whatever way that I can. I’m a little nervous and…”

Boris embraced Hank more firmly and whispered in Hank’s ear, “Your being here WITH me, makes all the difference in the world TO me, my beloved One.”

“Excuse me, Sirs,” Udo said from the entry way of the seating area, “Your lunch is ready now.”

“Hungry?” Boris smiled slightly and asked Hank with the full knowledge of what Hank would say.

Hank smiled and nodded enthusiastically; they released each other and followed Udo into the dining area

Udo seated them, poured their tea and asked if they needed anything else at the moment, to which Boris said, “Is the Imperia ready yet, Udo?”

“Yes, Sir, I will prepare the one for the ice now, I shall be in the other room if either of you need anything. Please enjoy your lunch,” Udo said calmly, bowed slightly and went into the seating area room.

Boris surveyed their lunch and said, “Ah! Stuffed green peppers - let us eat.”

As they ate, conversation between them because more their type of normal and Hank was relieved. During the time that they moved into the Suite, Hank thought that air was so tense he could hear it crackle and Hank tried to remind himself that Udo said things were going well. All Hank knew was that he wanted to take Boris and love him and make everything right and good.

“You know, Hank, when we travel and are not eating with others, I miss the background music that we play at home,” Boris mused and then took a bite of his lunch.

“Really? Have I got a surprise for you, hold on!” Hank said happily and jumped from his chair and walked quickly to the bedroom, his napkin fell to the floor.

Udo stuck his head into the dining area to see what was going on. He saw Boris bend over to pick up Hank’s napkin from the floor and as he did so, he and Udo exchanged glances and they both shrugged their shoulders at the same time.

Boris straightened up and folded Hank’s napkin and placed it on the left side of Hank’s plate as he could hear Hank rummaging around in the bedroom; “Udo, will you be so kind as to find out what Hank is looking for and help him to find it?”

Udo was already on his way half way across the room when Boris asked and as he entered the bedroom, he saw Hank digging through the first of his three pieces of luggage; Udo asked with curiosity, “Sir, how may I assist?”

“Music; Boris wants music while we eat and I brought my iPod and speaker but I can’t remember where I packed it,” Hank said with a little desperation in his voice as he peered into his suitcase and both hands were buried in the contents.

Boris exceptional hearing allowed him to hear everything that Hank and Udo were saying and he smiled and took a sip of his tea.

“Got it!” Hank exclaimed as he started to put things back into his suitcase.

Udo said, “Allow me, Dr. Hank, please go eat your lunch before it gets cold; I will take care of this.”

“Thanks, Udo!” Hank smiled and trotted back into the dining area, and said, “Ta da!” As he put the iPod and speaker on the table next to his place setting, sat down and resettled himself as he smiled widely.

“You are quite unfairly adorable right now, my beloved One, what is going on?” Boris asked with an amused look on his face and a small smile on his lips.

“What would you like to hear music-wise during lunch?” Hank asked with excitement as he touched and adjusted the device.

“Ja, well, uh, do you have something by Beethoven on that little thing?” Boris asked tentatively.

“Sure do! Let me see, oh! You like the Pastoral symphony and that is friendly lunch music, right?” Hank asked.

Boris nodded and then as the music Hank chose began to softly emanate from the speaker, he smiled widely and said, “Thank you, Hank that is wonderful.”

Hank looked very proud of himself and they both began, again, to eat their lunch.

 

“Boris? Why are there two bottles of the Imperia vodka here? You don’t think that we are each going to drink one bottle do you?” Hank asked with a little worry in his voice, “After all of the drinking WE did in Bonn...” 

They were unpacking their luggage and Hank’s curiosity finally got the better of him and he just had to ask what the two bottles of the Russian Standard Imperia Vodka were all about that he had seen Udo place on the credenza in the seating area.

“No, Hank, hmmm…although that might be a good deal of fun... In any case, one bottle is for us and one bottle is for Dima,” Boris said as he hung up his suits.

Hank stood up from where he had been bent over to place his shoes on the floor of the closet and looked at Boris, “Oh…kay,” He said slowly.

“We, Dima and I, made a promise to each other than whoever would die first, the other one, whenever we would be able to visit the grave of the other, would pour a bottle of the Imperia on their grave – for old times’ sake,” Boris stated lightly.

Hank thought about that for a moment and shyly said, “Well, it looks like you’re going to miss out then; um, unless you are buried with a bottle of it.”

“Precisely,” Boris replied.

“You just can’t bring flowers like everyone else?” Hank asked.

“Dima enjoyed the Imperia more than he enjoyed flowers, Hank,” Boris said as he walked into the bath room with his travel bath kit.

 

After they had unpacked their things, Hank half expected Boris to ask if the two of them could ‘go somewhere’ in the City Center during the late afternoon and was surprised when Boris seated himself in the sitting area with his current book and reading glasses and appeared to settle in.

As Hank brought out his laptop and sat on the couch with it on his lap, he asked, “So, what are our plans for today?”

Boris thought a moment and then replied, “Hmmm, well I think that our afternoon coffee will be arriving soon and then we are to have dinner downstairs in the restaurant at seven, or so. We could either spend the evening here or have a drink in the Executive Lounge to finish our day.”

“That sounds nice, um…” Hank stopped.

Boris looked up from his book over his glasses at Hank.

“I’m just surprised that you don’t want to go anywhere,” Hank replied.

“You told me that our travel days needed to be days of rest, and I am simply following instructions,” Boris said plainly.

Hank smiled at Boris, sighed and said, “Thank you, Boris. I’m just so used to you piling on activities during our trips that I’m still trying to get used to my own instructions.”

As Boris looked back down to his book he said with a sly smile, “Oh, there shall be plenty of activity later this evening…”

 

Dinner that night was at the hotel’s restaurant, ICON, and it was a perfect introduction for Hank to experience traditional Hungarian food. They shared the Gourmet Appetizer of Marinated Gourmet Salmon Slices, Gooseliver Terrine with Fig-Mustard and Air-dried Ham; Hank enjoyed the Roasted Rack of Lamb with Paprika Pilaw and Brussels Sprouts; Boris enjoyed the Roasted Pike Perch Fillet, Leek Casserole and Smoked Tomato Cream. A Hungarian wine pairing with each course was arranged for the men and ‘simply could not be denied’ (Boris’ words); this was even though Hank wanted them both, especially Boris, to stay away from alcohol for a few days, he simply had to give up on this notion; Hank had also guessed that their bottle of Imperia was going to be drained before they left Budapest, so Hank resigned himself to the thought that since Boris seemed to always have a glass of water nearby, this might help.

Dessert was served with coffee and Hank ordered the Raspberry Surprise Sphere with Hot Chocolate Sauce; Boris ordered the Cantaloupe Sorbet with Mint.

Boris said, “I am happy to see you are enjoying this meal, Hank, I am especially amused at your dessert, and is it a surprise as it is touted?”

Hank said after swallowing a bite, “Yeah, I think the surprise is the explosion of raspberry flavor, wow!”

“I know that you quite favor the taste of raspberry. Have I ever told you of my three food rules, Hank?” Boris asked and then ate a small spoonful of his sorbet.

Hank knitted his brows and thought a moment, “No, I don’t think so.”

“My first food rule is that one should never eat anything that has the word ‘surprise’ in the name, unless you learn of the surprise beforehand; my second rule is to never eat anything that is simply described as ‘meat’, as you should always ask what the meat is – I have been to some places where they eat food which came from what would be described in another country as a pet…my imagination is too fertile to ignore what I visualize. My third and last rule is to never eat anything that bites you back – whether it is excessively spicy or still alive enough to get back at you for eating it,” Boris stated calmly and then took a sip of his coffee.

Hank smiled widely and shook his head, “I love how you make life so interesting, as if life isn’t interesting enough to start with.”

“I am merely sharing what little wisdom I have gained over the years, Hank. You call life interesting…huh…that is a much friendlier word than what I normally call life, I should start to use that term instead of what I usually utilize…” Boris said confidently.

“Let me guess, you would usually call life complicated,” Hank replied proudly.

Boris smiled fondly at Hank, “We have done a good deal of un-complicating my, er, our lives, ja?”

“That’s really good; my life used to be ordinary and yours was complicated, now we share an interesting life!” Hank said enthusiastically.

Although they were in the hotel’s restaurant, they were seated in one of the more private booths near the window which overlooked the bright lights of the city, and knowing this Boris looked at Hank with an openly eager expression and asked, “How interesting would you like to make the end of our evening, H-hank?” 

“Uh,” Hank looked around and saw that no one, not even their escort team, was looking at them at that moment, “We promised Khalil that we wouldn’t play in the snow during this trip.”

Boris replied, “This is true, however…” And he leaned over, used his left hand to hold Hank’s neck and jaw, quickly pulled Hank closer to him, closed his eyes and kissed Hank firmly on the lips.

After a moment, his lips lingered on Hank’s, Boris opened his eyes, moved back slowly, dropped his hand slowly and caressed Hank’s neck as he did so, and sat back in his chair as he admired the sudden redness on Hank’s cheeks even visible through Hank’s beard. Boris calmly took a sip of his coffee.

Hank’s spine had stiffened and he felt perfectly stunned; his eyes had closed involuntarily and he sat there for a moment not knowing what to think and also not caring about anything except that he had just received a full-on kiss from his husband and it was IN public.

“Breathe, Hank,” Boris said quietly.

Hank did so and opened his eyes and saw that still no one was looking at them; he reached for his glass of water, took a drink, looked at Boris, blinked and said, “Did it just get hot in here?”

Boris smiled fully, even his eyes lit up as he replied quietly, “Only where we are seated, my beloved One.”

Hank sighed; his expression then changed to one of accepting a challenge as he recuperated from the shock and said, “You are SO in trouble right now, mister. I’ll take this and raise you.”

“Oh, indeed you shall raise me, H-hank…” Boris said in a silky voice.

 

Much later, Hank turned onto his back as they nestled together in bed and Boris placed his head to nuzzle Hank’s neck. Their arms were wrapped around each other and their legs were entwined; the sheets and blankets on the bed covered them somewhat but they were in disarray across the entire bed.

With closed eyes and a slight smile on his face, Boris took a deep breath as he enjoyed Hank’s scent and murmured, “Hmmm.”

Hank said breathlessly, “I still can’t believe you did that to me, Tree!”

“Did what?” Boris asked slowly as he was still languorous from their love making.

“You KISSED me in the RESTAURANT!” Hank said loudly.

Boris chuckled deeply, smiled wickedly, and strengthened his embrace, “Ja, I did.”


	22. Requiem, Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dead drink because they are thirsty; the living, drink to honor and remember the dead.

The next morning, they were both dressed and ready and waited for their escort after they enjoyed a very late breakfast in their suite. Both men were impeccably dressed in black suits and shoes; Boris’ dress shirt was solid gunmetal grey color and he wore a tie which was the deepest shade of red with pencil-thin darker red diagonal stripes, his pocket square was dark gold with black swirls; Hank’s dress shirt was a deep blue subtle check pattern with a solid black tie and deep blue pocket square.

It had become cold again and so they wore their wool outer dress coats, gloves and cashmere scarves. Boris wore his astrakhan hat.

Udo and everyone on Khalil’s team all wore dark suits and coats as well. Austria was always dressed in black. 

It was a somber procession of ten men as they walked through the Hilton Budapest lobby on their way to the awaiting caravan of five grey and black cars. Khalil wanted them to exit the hotel in a more secretive manner, but Boris insisted. Boris always wanted it this way as it was a matter of pride and honor for him to proceed formally on the day he visited Dima. Boris used his cane with his left hand, but did not lean on it.

No one spoke and they walked at a moderate pace (matching Boris’ gait) through the double doors which were held open by two of the lobby doormen. Boris and Hank were at the center of the procession and it was somewhat obvious that they were the ‘important’ ones of the group; some of the people in the lobby turned their heads to watch the procession; Khalil’s team looked at those people intently and those people looked away. 

Boris carried the bottle of Imperia cradled in his right arm as if it was a scepter.

The drive to the Farkasréti Cemetery from the Hilton Budapest took only twenty minutes up into the hills above the city.

As they rode in the car, (Boris still carried the bottle) Hank finally worked up the courage to ask, “Do you want to be alone at the grave, Boris? I can wait in the car and of course, you can take all of the time you need.”

Boris looked at Hank and smiled slightly, “You are so kind and understanding, Hank, what a generous essence you have, thank you for your offer. However, before you and I became us, I sent you away too many times and then tried to drag you back too many times, all because of my arrogance. Now that you are in my life, I wish you to be besides me always, no matter what.”

“I will always be there for you, Boris,” Hank said affectionately.

Boris looked down at his shoes with a little shyness for a moment, looked back at Hank and then said, “I want to share this with you, my beloved One. Dima’s grave is more than beautiful, I found the perfect spot in the cemetery and his monument is made of the finest and purest white Carrera Marble that I could find and purchase. The sculptor did magnificent work, you will see this.”

The entourage drove through the impressive gates of Farkasréti Cemetery and both Boris and Hank looked out the windows of the limousine.

Boris said, “This is one of the most famous cemeteries in Budapest and it opened in 1894. See the spectacular view of the city, Hank? Many people wanted it to be a resort rather than a cemetery and many famous and notable Hungarian people are buried here. Dima did not want to be famous and was not, however Dima became somewhat notable but in his own devious way. He caused his own bit of intrigue here…ah, he did have an appetite for living…fully.”

The vehicles parked and Khalil directed the security perimeter to be at a farther distance and they were more discreet than usual. Khalil wanted to give Boris the utmost respect and provide more space than he really needed.

Boris got out of the car and took two steps away from it, with Hank behind him, Boris then stood for a moment on the roadway, tall and stiff, the bottle still cradled in his arm. He held his cane for a moment and then changed his mind and handed it to Udo. Hank stood to his right. Udo shut the door behind them and looked up at Boris, studying him and waited patiently.

Boris looked at Udo with fondness and said, “Thank you, Udo…we shall return shortly.”

Hank smiled slightly, his eyes bright blue in the sunlight. He, too, watched Boris.

Udo said nothing but bowed deeply to his Masters.

Boris looked at Hank and said, “Shall we?” Boris pointed with his other hand towards the hill in front of them that sloped upward.

Hank nodded and followed behind Boris.

“No, Hank, please walk beside me where you belong, ja?” Boris suggested politely as he waited for Hank to step next to him.

Hank did as he was asked.

After a dozen or so steps, they crested the hill and beyond them was another hill which, at its gentle peak, was a small, white stone building and Boris began to walk towards it.

“Beautiful, ja?” Boris asked.

“Really beautiful,” Hank replied, “Did you take care of this yourself, I mean, did the family help you set this up for Dima?”

Boris said, “I did this on my own and the family only argued about it. Dima loved Budapest with all of his heart; I knew this, and he told me that he felt he had been born here even though he was not. He wanted to be buried here and not in Russia. Most of that actual side of the family is in Russia and they have been unhappy about this since his death. That was all they could think about was what they wanted, not what Dima wanted. As far as I was concerned, their selfishness and shortsightedness eliminated their right to choose anything about this situation. I was not about to have Dima NOT be cared for, and the family tried to drag it out. During that time, Dima had not yet been laid to rest, so I took charge of the situation, forced a legal situation and made certain that Dima had the best care available. I went so far as to also place legal protection upon his grave that no one could touch him…ever,” Boris continued, “I have struggled with the family continually - on the anniversaries of Dima’s birthday they still ask me to have Dima exhumed and moved to St. Petersburg, and I refuse to allow that to happen.”

As the two men came closer to the monument, the bright sun made the white marble glow. The monument was very modern in style with sharp corners and patterns of angles that when the sun hit the stone, the light seemed to change, somewhat like a prism. Words in an elegant script in both Magyar (Hungarian) and in Cyrillic (Russian) were carved into the marble and it read: “Beloved Brother, Intrepid Son” and there was a border of polished black obsidian pavers which surrounded the rectangular building and formed an impressive border with mirror-like qualities. Hank couldn’t read the words, but guessed at Dima’s name which was above the dates also carved into the stone. Dima’s name was not as long as Boris’ name.

Below Dima’s name there was an elegantly carved, fluted black obsidian vase attached to the front of the building at where the obsidian pavers met the white marble and it was the only rounded area on the entire monument; this was in the front of the building and which looked like that when it rained, the vase would fill with rain water.

Hank watched Boris walk slowly around the monument; he appeared to be inspecting it as he looked up and down the walls and stretched his neck and stood tall to see as much of the roof as he could. Several times, he bent down to brush away a leaf from the pavers with his left gloved hand. He nodded to himself and looked satisfied. He still carried the bottle of vodka in his right arm. 

Boris came around the front of the building, stood before it, and in the calm silence of the cemetery, Hank jumped when Boris started to speak; Hank almost said, ‘What?’ But then realized that Boris had spoken in Russian and he was speaking to Dima.

Hank turned quietly to walk away a few paces and give Boris his privacy.

Boris asked kindly, in English, “No, Hank, please stay here with me,” Boris had turned slightly in Hank’s direction when he spoke. Boris smiled slightly but also with an expression that comforted Hank.

Hank stopped, turned back and returned to where he had stood.

Boris nodded at Hank, turned back to the monument and continued to speak in Russian, “It has been a while, my Brother. Are you wreaking havoc in the afterlife as you did here? I apologize for my lapse in visiting you. I had become very ill, but I am better now because I finally allowed people help me. Good lord, Dima, I do not know how to do that very well, but I am trying to learn this. Ha! I was also too ill to fight them. Yes, I know you told me to never surrender, but Dima, I had to this time; I was told that I nearly died. Also, I am married now, to Hank, and life is as it should be for me; he is the reward for my surrender. I have found my true partner in life. Yes, finally; and that’s him over there, you know. You would like Hank; he laughs and smiles a great deal, like you. But you would have to be kind to him, Dima, because he has a gentle, old soul. He does not have the serious angry streak like you and I have, and he also does not have the burden of so many secrets as you and I carry,” Boris paused, “Please be happy for me, Dima; I think now you would be the only one in the family who would, and you are not even here with me. It would comfort me to know you would approve of my husband. Hank is the love of my life and I will now not live without him,” After another pause, “Yes, Dima, here, I brought you something to quench your thirst.”

Boris then held the bottle of Imperia, opened it and began to walk around the monument and as he did so, he poured the vodka slowly onto the obsidian pavers and made sure that there was enough to go all the way around the building; then he poured the last of the vodka, perhaps only a few ounces into the fluted vase. Boris recapped the bottle and placed it gently inside the vase. The vase was large enough to hold the entire bottle so that only the neck showed.

Hank had to turn away for a moment because he needed to wipe his eyes. He turned back in time to see Boris place an open, but ungloved hand on the marble at Dima’s carved name and nod once. He heard Boris whisper something, but didn’t understand what Boris said and Hank watched Boris lovingly trace the letters of Dima’s name with his pointer and index fingers.

Boris then stood up and turned fully to face Hank, put the glove back on his hand, and smiled calmly at Hank.

To Hank, Boris’ face had become lined, he looked very weary, and his eyes were very grey, but there was serenity in his eyes that Hank had never seen before. Hank smiled affectionately at Boris as he walked over to Hank and they embraced in a fierce hug.

They stepped apart after a moment and Hank asked Boris, “Can I?” Hank had pointed to the monument.

Boris nodded slowly and stood in place as he watched Hank walk over to the Dima’ grave. Boris worked very hard to not become overwhelmed.

Hank stood in front of the monument and said, “Hi Dima, it’s Hank; I hope you can understand me. Um, I’m not very good at this, but, I just wanted to tell you that I love your brother with all of my heart and soul. He takes good care of me and I promise to take good care of him. I didn’t bring anything with me to leave here with you, but I’ll have an extra shot of Imperia tonight when Boris and I toast you. I hope that’s okay.”

Hank turned and walked back towards Boris. He could tell by Boris’ expression that Boris was struggling to keep it inside and actually looked like he was in pain. Hank lifted his chin, took a deep breath, smiled confidently up at Boris, and took Boris’ left arm with his two hands as they started to walk down the hill. “Let’s go get a cup of coffee, okay?”

“Ja, that would be nice,” Boris said in a quiet voice.

As they reached the caravan, Hank released Boris’ arm as Udo opened the car door for them.

Udo looked at Hank and then at Boris before they climbed into the car and asked, “Coffee at Castrum, Sir?”

“Ja, Udo,” Boris replied and then looked at Hank, “And after, a walk along the river down to the Museum, please.”

“Of course, Master,” Udo replied and bowed slightly to both of them as they entered the limousine. Udo was familiar with the expression Boris now wore and knew that it would be a long afternoon and evening for his Master. Udo hoped that Dr. Hank’s presence would speed the healing process this time.

Boris sat very stiff in the car and was quiet as the caravan drove; he stared blankly at the seat across the vehicle from him and firmly held the handle of his cane. Hank looked out of the window at the buildings and the people and was also very quiet. 

The cars pulled up in front of the Castrum Caffee and Bar and Khalil, his team, and Austria went into formation. Udo opened the car door when Khalil gave him the all clear sign and Hank stepped out first. Boris then stepped out and took a deep breath; he could smell the coffee that was roasted on site and smiled slightly.

Richard and Yussef had determined the café was safe and were inside waiting; Udo walked in front of Boris and Hank and held the door open for them. They entered the café together and Boris removed his hat and went directly to an open table in the back corner of the seating area, Hank followed and they sat down together. Udo went to the counter and ordered their coffees. Anton and Khalil posted themselves outside on the sidewalk and Austria stayed with the cars.

There were only three other couples and two individual customers in the café - although one couple seemed intrigued by the two well-dressed men who were surrounded by other well-dressed men. 

Hank broke the silence and said to Boris, “Gees, it smells terrific. Do they roast coffee here?”

“Ja, they do and it is delicious. Udo will probably bring us some pastries, too. Dima and I used to come to this little cellar bar to have coffee and often times a drink,” Boris said, “If you are hungry for more than a pastry, please have Udo order you something, I believe they make sandwiches here that you would like.”

Udo then brought over coffees and two pastries, one that had raspberry for Hank and one that had dark chocolate for Boris. He set everything on the table and bowed slightly to them and then went immediately over to talk briefly with Richard and Yussef before going outside to speak with Khalil.

The two men sipped on their coffees for a few moments in silence and Hank wondered if Boris was slowly coming out of the dark mood. The coffee seemed to have revived him a little bit. Hank asked, “You said something about going for a walk along the river?”

Boris pointed towards the windows and said, “It is only a short walk in that direction to the walkway which follows the river; I know it is cold outside, but a walk will be good for us, I think. The Danube is a beautiful river, and this is a beautiful city,” Then he pointed to his left and said, “The walk will take us to the Museum of Hungarian Applied Folk Art and we can wander around in there if you wish. Dima and I used to do that, but…you and I do not have to do that…”

“Let’s see how we feel at the end of the river walk; its cold outside,” Hank replied and then started to eat his pastry.

Hank wanted to ask how Dima died, but didn’t; he was afraid to stir up anything in Boris that was even more overwhelming. Hank just didn’t have the heart to satisfy his curiosity at the expense of Boris’ emotional health. Hank surmised that Boris would share information with him when he felt comfortable. The visit to Dima’s grave had made Hank nervous enough and he could still see the tense lines in Boris’ face – they were more prominent now, as if exhaustion was setting in again, but Hank thought he might be imagining things. He also thought that it was getting colder outside and wondered if it would snow; and on top of all of this, Hank noticed that Boris hadn’t touched his pastry.

 

At the end of their slow walk along the river, Boris and Hank talked a little. Boris would use his cane to point out buildings along the river. Boris again thanked Hank for his help and guidance and support; they could see the museum one block to their left. They were shadowed by their team, Udo walked behind them at a discreet distance and the cars were parked in front of the Museum and guarded by Austria. Clouds had moved in very quickly and it was if a blanket of solid cold air had covered the city. Just as Boris started to say something, it began to snow.

Boris looked up at the falling snow, closed his eyes for a moment and then started over, “Er, I suppose we should go back to the hotel, ja? You were right, it is very cold outside,” His breath made a cloud in the air.

Hank looked at Boris and smiled a comforting smile, “Yeah, let’s do that. I think it would be nice for us to get comfortable and maybe even have dinner brought in; just time for us right now…is that okay with you?”

Boris smiled slightly and nodded. He didn’t say anything further.

They walked to the waiting vehicles and Hank told Udo what they had decided to do as Boris climbed in. Hank and Udo looked at each other with concerned expressions.

 

During their in-room dinner, Hank asked if Boris wanted to hear some music, but Hank didn’t have any Shostakovich (Dima’s favorite composer) to play on his iPod, so Boris said, “...never mind...” and commented that the music would have been too somber anyway for dinner. Hank suggested that they play something light by Mozart, with the hopes to cheer Boris up, but Boris declined all music at that point. After dinner, the two men changed into their sleeping clothes, robes and slippers.

Udo said that if they needed anything, he would be in his room; he wished them a good night, bowed and made sure all doors to the suite were secured. He had a feeling that the next day would be a quiet one and that his Masters would stay in their suite. He knew that Boris always needed time to get over the visit to the monument. Udo had seen the weather forecast and the snow was not expected to let up until possibly the afternoon.

There was a gas fireplace in the seating area of the suite which Hank turned on and they sat on the couch together in front of it.

Boris had only eaten a third of his dinner and Hank knew that Udo had the refrigerator in the suite stocked with cheeses, breads, fruits and nuts for them to snack on. Hank thought that if they were going start drinking the vodka, he would try to coax Boris into eating a late evening snack.

After they sat and stared into the fire for a short while, Boris stood up and retrieved the refreshed ice bucket which held the other bottle of Imperia Vodka and found two shot glasses in the china cabinet. He brought it all over to and placed it on the coffee table and then sat down again.

“We should make a toast to Dima,” Boris said quietly as he opened the bottle and pour two glasses.

“Great idea. Do you want some cheese and bread to go with that?” Hank suggested hopefully.

“No, I am not hungry right now,” Boris said plainly.

Over the course of the next two hours, they sat and toasted to Dima. (Hank kept his promise and slowly drank an extra shot for Dima.) Boris had quite a few extra shots himself and he started to tell Hank about some of the things that he and Dima had done together: the drinking, the mischief, the arguments, Dima’s wild parties, and the business deals. Boris told Hank that Dima had so many female ‘companions’ as he was quite the charmer. 

Hank tried to entice Boris to eat something and drink some water (of which Boris refused both) to try and slow down the inebriation and he knew that the potent alcohol had, by the end of those two hours, made Boris seriously drunk. Hank expected this, but was sad about it anyway. At one point, earlier in the evening, Hank tried to cap the vodka bottle and move it away, but Boris would not stand for that at all and told Hank to simply leave things as they were; Hank could tell that Boris might become angry at any moment and Hank had never seen Boris become an ‘angry drunk’ and really didn’t want to. 

Hank wished he had asked Udo if this was Boris’ normal behavior for the time after the gravesite visit. Boris appeared to not care at the amount he had drank even though Hank asked Boris several times to slow down, but Boris just waved off that comment and he then just stared silently into the fire. Boris sat on the couch with his elbows on his knees and swayed back and forth a bit.

“Okay, Boris, let’s get to bed, it’s late,” Hank said as he took the half-full shot glass of vodka lightly from Boris’ hand. 

Boris grabbed the glass back from Hank and drank it down in one gulp and then he said, “Never leave vodka in the glasss, Hank, it is direspectable-ness, or something like that, to the vodka.”

Hank took the now empty glass and placed it on the coffee table and pulled Boris to a wobbly but standing position. (Hank stopped counting after Boris had five shots – and on an empty stomach; Hank only had two shots as he knew he needed to be designated sober one in the suite that night.)

Boris looked down at Hank blearily, blinked slowly and said, “Hank, do you know sssomething? Perhaps, if we do not care about people, then we shall not miss them after we are dead…I mean…after they are dead. After someone is dead…Dima is dead…but I am not dead and I have to mourn Dima! Why do we have to care about people, Hank? Why can we not just be…alone… and be, er, happy about them, I mean, it, er, that?” Boris blinked slowly and both of his eyelids didn’t open and close at same time.

Then Boris said something lengthy in Russian which appeared to be another question directed at Hank because of the “Huh?” Hank heard at the end of the sentence. One of Boris’ hands went outward in front of him as if to punctuate the ‘huh’ and he appeared to wait for Hank’s answer as he stood and swayed.

Hank held Boris’ arm and walked him slowly around the couch with the hope he could get him over to the bed before Boris collapsed on the floor. Boris’ robe was open and the belt trailed behind Boris.

“Well, we are much healthier and productive, and life is much more fun when we care about people, Boris. Come on…no, walk with me this way over to the bed, yeah, that’s it, come on, you’re doing well,” Hank said as he guided Boris with a stronger grip on his arm with one hand and his other arm around Boris’ back. Boris kept trying to walk the opposite way than where Hank was guiding him to.

“It is hurting to remember Dima, I mean, ja, it hurts to…” Boris said and then finished the sentence in Russian.

Hank stood Boris by the side of the bed, placed his hands gently on Boris’ shoulders as if to say ‘stay right here’, turned down the blankets further, then reached up to remove Boris’ robe from his shoulders and noticed that the belt had fallen on the floor in the middle of the room. Hank guided Boris to sit down on the bed, which he did rather heavily. Hank was surprised at how upright Boris was sitting. Hank stood in front of him and straightened Boris pajama shirt collar and re-buttoned the three top buttons which had come undone. Then Hank held Boris’ face with both hands. Boris looked up at Hank with sad, dark grey eyes.

Hank said sincerely, “I care about you Boris and right now you should lie down and go to sleep, this is how you will care for yourself.”

Boris replied slowly, his elegant right hand slowly waved back and forth every few words, “I do not care about me, Hank…one day, everyone I care about will be alone and I, no, I mean, everyone I care about will be gone and I will be more alone than ever before. There is no…point to any of this living-ness, ja?”

“Listen to me, YOU are not alone now. NOW is all that matters. I really and truly care about you and I can think of at least fifty other people around this world who REALLY CARE about you, too. What is important right now is that you lie down and sleep,” Hank said firmly and he gently guided Boris to lie down on the bed; Hank held Boris’ head at the back of his neck to support it until it was on the pillow, which Boris did without a fight. Hank took Boris’ slippers off of his feet and picked up his legs and swung them onto the bed. He covered Boris with the blanket and saw that Boris had instantly fallen asleep.

Hank stood there, looked at Boris and said to himself, “I hope you don’t think we can come here every year and do this, it just takes too much out of you and I just can’t…and won’t allow this. And, we’re not going anywhere tomorrow.”

 

~~~

 

The next morning, Hank awoke to see Boris standing at the bedroom window as he looked outward with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Boris had awakened early, slipped out of bed, washed up, donned his robe and slippers, and determined how to make a pot of coffee. (Their suite had a small, but fully-stocked kitchen.)

Hank laid there quietly for a moment and watched Boris. Hank saw that Boris had even brushed his hair and his pajamas and robe were set on his body in their usual perfect manner.

Boris turned his head and saw that Hank was awake, smiled slightly and said in his clear, deep voice, “Good morning, my beloved One.” Boris then walked over to the bed, placed the coffee cup on the nightstand, sat down, leaned over and looked at Hank for a moment before kissing him.

“Good morning, Tree, how are WE feeling this morning?” Hank asked cheerfully, but warily. Dr. Hank studied Boris’ face and he actually looked rested, the weary lines that were on his face the day before had diminished quite a bit and his eyes were bright and their normal grey/blue color.

“WE are well. I did take an ibuprofen though, Dr. Hank. And, I learned how to make a pot of coffee in the little machine that is in the kitchen. Would you like a cup? I did rather well with the Gevalia coffee, not my preferred brand, but fairly tasty if you double the amount of grounds,” Boris stated.

Hank smiled and said, “Sure, I’d love some coffee. What time is it?”

Boris got up from the bed and said as he walked out of the bedroom, “It is near to eight; breakfast will be delivered in less than one hour.”

Hank got out of bed, put on his robe and slippers and met Boris in the seating area. Boris handed him a cup of coffee and they sat down together on the couch. 

After they both took a sip, (Hank’s expression to the taste of the coffee was one of surprise – it was strong but very good), Boris said, “I suppose you are wondering how I am able to be upright and functioning after all of that drinking last night, ja?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s the million dollar question I have in my mind right now,” Hank admitted.

Boris stated simply, “I do much better with vodka than I do with beer. Allow me to define that further, I recuperate much more quickly from vodka than I do from beer. I suppose my Russian side is stronger. Are you hungry?”

“I’m glad to learn this about you. Uh, yeah, I’m hungry, but what about you? Please tell me that you are going to eat breakfast,” Hank replied.

“Oh ja, I shall; I know this will shock you, but I am hungry right now; Udo has arranged a nice meal for us,” Boris paused a moment, “Thank you, Hank, for…everything yesterday. A day like yesterday is always a challenge for me and I shall admit to you that I make it worse by imbibing more than I should. I usually make Udo leave me alone and I fall asleep on the couch as I cannot make it to the bed...which makes it interesting because I have to relearn where the bath room is from where I end up on the couch. No matter; something tells me that I must also assure you that I do not make this, hmmm, pilgrimage every year so you need not worry that I will get as I was last night on an annual basis,” Boris stated.

Hank sighed with relief and said, “You know, Boris, I actually worried, I mean, wondered about that.”

Boris smiled slightly, he put his hand on Hank’s cheek and said, “I do not recall what I said last night, and so, if I spoke anything to you which was inappropriate, I sincerely apologize.”

“It’s okay, you were fine; you were very sad, you talked about Dima and about caring for people and being alone, and things like that,” Hank admitted as he patted Boris’ knee.

They took another few sips of their coffee, (Hank watched as) Boris tilted his head slightly and said in a raised voice, just before Udo knocked and entered their suite through the connecting doorway, “Udo? Have they brought us breakfast?”

Udo entered the suite and said, “Yes, Sir, it is coming down the hallway, and good morning to you, Dr. Hank; I hope you are well this morning.”

“Good morning, Udo, yeah, I’m great! Look! Boris made us coffee all by himself. Hey, how did you know that Udo was coming through the door?” Hank said cheerfully.

“Although Udo is quite silent in his movements, I can hear his footsteps as he nears the connecting door in his room and I can hear the inner door open through the wall; you did not hear this? Ah, the breakfast is here,” Boris stated plainly as if everyone could do the same.

There was a knock on the door and Udo went to open it. Breakfast had arrived.

“Really? That’s amazing, I didn’t hear anything,” Hank said.

 

It had snowed heavily overnight and blanketed all of Budapest in white. The sky was still overcast and there were flakes still falling from the sky. From their windows, the only colors to be seen were white and various shades of grey; even the Danube River was a light charcoal color; they could see people going about their business and seeing them bundled up to walk outside made Boris feel chilled even though they were warm in the comfort of their suite.

“We’re staying inside where it’s warm and dry, and that’s final,” Hank said after Boris had suggested they take a walk, “I’m sure that Khalil is worried that you and I are going to really ‘play in the snow’ today and we just don’t want him to go there.”

Boris repeated exactly what Hank said with a curious tilt of his head, “”…we just don’t want him to go there.” What do you mean, Hank, we do not want Khalil to go where?”

Hank chuckled and explained that he meant that they should not give Khalil cause to worry about them and then added that he was perfectly fine to stay indoors all day long with Boris. He suggested they dress and go downstairs to the Lobby Café and Bar to have a light snack with coffee in the afternoon and then asked Boris if they could dress for dinner and eat at ICON again. Hank also reminded Boris that there was soaking tub in the bath room that they had not explored together yet.

 

The two men did everything that Hank had suggested and it was a pleasant and relaxing day for them. They even took a brief nap before they dressed for dinner.

Khalil, his team, and Austria cross-checked and finalized preparations the next leg of the trip. Being in St. Petersburg would be more formal, and more complicated, and would require more attention. Udo made certain that all of the necessary details were in order, and there were a lot of details.

Boris and Hank spent the end of the evening sitting in front of the fireplace talking about the meeting with Rateniczes. 

“I’m nervous,” Hank admitted, “And this is really…scary.”

“Do you fear for your safety, Hank?” Boris asked simply.

“Not my safety, but OUR safety and Udo’s and Khalil’s and…” Hank trailed off, “My imagination is going crazy and I am starting to think we are walking into a war zone.”

Since they were both sitting on the couch next to each other, Boris put his arm around Hank’s shoulders and braced him, “Please try and calm yourself, my beloved One. I assure you that it is not a war zone. It is merely a formal, and somewhat, hmmm, aristocratic situation and there is protocol and procedure to be followed. That is all, truly.”

“Seriously…wow, if I wrote in a diary, this would have to take up three chapters, at least,” Hank said with a slight silly tone of voice as he attempted to make himself feel better.

They were drinking tea instead of alcohol; Hank had forbidden any form of it throughout the whole day. Boris wasn’t happy about that because he really wanted the wine pairing with their dinner, but Dr. Hank had spoken and reminded Boris of his promise to follow his medical instructions. 

Boris finally agreed and reminded Hank that there would be vodka involved when they got to Russia. Hank asked if they could just politely decline the offers of vodka - for medical reasons. Boris looked at him with the most incredulous expression and said that one simply does not “…politely decline offers of vodka…” when in Russia, and further explained that “…one should not use the words ‘decline’ and ‘vodka’ in the same sentence…” in that country and in that culture. Boris told Hank that Russians generally feel that vodka cures practically everything; and he further reminded Hank that they were there to reconnect with the third and last faction of his family, and because of that they should be on the utmost best behavior and be perfect guests which would require them to graciously accept whatever is being offered.

Boris then held Hank in a warm embrace as they sat on the couch and said, “Do not worry, my beloved One, all will be well; it will not be easy, nor simple, however we will survive it together. And we must remember that the region we travel to is still struggling with the concept of our, er, type of relationship, so we must keep our affections discreet. We have talked about this part of the trip many times and I have shared with you all that I know of what we should do, how we should act, and what we should say. If you are uncertain, mirror my mannerisms, show strength though you may feel fearful; and the safety net, as it were, is to be silent and look as if you are contemplating a reply whilst meeting their gazes with confidence. I do not know if they will speak English freely with you; they may use that as a way to test your nerves, which is why Udo will be at your side to translate everything for you. You will do well; I have seen high courage in you and have absolute faith in your abilities to carry yourself. Simply be yourself, Hank. Above all, we should simply rely on each other as we always do; we are doing this together.”

 

~~~

 

After a quick two and a half hour flight from Budapest to the Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, and a forty minute drive through the city, Boris and Hank were settled into the Trezzini Palace Hotel’s Presidential Suite which had a balcony that looked out over the River Bolshaya Neva and the city center of St. Petersburg.

Where the Hotel was situated on Vasilyevsky Island, amongst other interesting locations, there were many tree-lined parks, a privately-funded art museum named the Erata, the “Krasin” which was an ice breaker ship turned museum, the Menshikov Palace and stunning buildings with Italian-style architecture. The museum that Boris had enjoyed alone as a child, The Kunstkamera was also just seven blocks down the street from the Trezzini.

Across the River Bolshaya Neva were many other famous Russian places such as the State Hermitage Museum, the Mariinsky Theatre and the Museum of Russian Vodka. Boris suggested to Hank that they take some time during their short stay in the city to visit at least one or two locations. This was a city of rich culture and sophistication, similar to Paris, and Boris wanted to share that with Hank. He worked hard to be positive for Hank’s sake as he could sense that Hank was very nervous; inside, Boris had steeled himself for the worst possible outcome and all of that took a lot of energy from him.

Khalil and his team were on (very) high alert now and would be until they were all back in the air and on their way home. Austria was poised and ready for anything, and when they said anything, they meant it. Five junior suites at the Hotel were reserved for the two teams, as well as Udo, Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine, and there was to be 24-hour guard duty in the hallway and at the elevator. Unknown to Boris and Hank, Khalil had hired a second Austria team to guard the jet at the airport, as he always followed his intuition. Khalil believed with all of his heart that the extra security was always worth the extra expense and he was not about to regret anything.

The trip was to be a short one: one day to settle in, one day with the family, one day with a family meal (if all went well) and time to themselves, and on the final day they would fly to Paris to ‘rejuvenate’ (Boris’ word) before flying home to New York and Shadow Pond.

The men were settled comfortably into their suite and lunch was served there.

“This is quite an amazing city, Hank,” Boris said while they enjoyed their lunch, “St. Petersburg is a port city on the Baltic Sea, which is in that direction,” He pointed to his left, “It was the imperial capital for two centuries, having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, whom, as you know now is subject of the city's iconic “Bronze Horseman” statue which we drove by on our way here. It remains Russia's cultural center to this day with symphony, ballet, and art. Sergei Rachmaninoff lived here for a few years with his family in the early 1880’s.”

Hank said, “The architecture here is amazing. I kinda wish we could visit here without all of the...”

“Complications?” Boris suggested, “Ja, that would be nice.”

“Yeah, complicated - that’s a good word for this whole thing,” Hank paused, “How are you doing?”

“Me? I am fine,” Boris replied flatly and he took a bite of a chilled beet and potato salad.

“Okay, so that means you’re not fine. I understand. I just can’t help but think that we just want to get this over and done with so we can go back to our own lives,” Hank said and buttered another slice of brown bread.

Boris looked at Hank and smiled in a tight way and then said, “Ja, I will admit to you that the thought has crossed my mind. Look on the bright side, Hank, in two days, we shall be in Paris and then after that, we will be home.”

“Oh, by the way, I like how you wedged Paris into this trip,” Hank teased but there was an underlying unhappy sound.

Boris debated whether he should tell Hank of his idea that he planned to kiss Hank in public when they would be at the top of the Eiffel Tower or keep it a surprise. He decided to keep it a surprise. 

“It is merely a rest stop on our way home, and besides, the energy of Paris is quite alive and it will refresh us,” Boris stated.

“If you say so, Tree,” Hank said with a slightly sullen tone to his voice.

Boris reached out his right hand towards Hank across the table; Hank took his hand and they smiled slightly at each other, Boris asked, “Tell me what is on your mind, my beloved One.”

“You talk about energy, well, this place is so very different in that sense. I can feel the coldness and I don’t mean the weather; there’s something else here I haven’t put a word to yet. And, unlike some of the other places we’ve been to,” Hank paused for a moment, “I am acutely aware and very uncomfortable that I don’t understand what is being said and that makes me feel like I don’t belong here.”

Boris looked at Hank with compassion and softened his expression; he grasped Hank’s hand a little more firmly and said, “WE…do not belong here, Hank. This place is my past. I have grown beyond the need to stay here for no longer than I must. This visit is merely a formality as I wish to secure support, for us, from this side of the family, simply for the fact that it may become helpful to us later. We are not visiting the Kuesters or the von Jurgens; this is different, but still serious, ja? When I am otherwise engaged in dialogue, Udo will be in your ear translating everything for you. When you have a question or wish to speak your mind, tell Udo and he will speak for you. He will feel like an extension of your voice and he translates very accurately.”

“I am going to owe Udo my left kidney for all of the help he is providing me,” Hank said with a slight smile.

Boris chuckled as he now knew what that phrase was all about. 

 

They spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in their suite; Boris took a nap; Hank was worried about everything and didn’t take a nap. He left Boris a note about where he would be and while Boris slept, Hank went to talk with Udo in his suite. 

“Dr. Hank, may I prepare you a cup of tea? Perhaps that will help you to feel more at ease,” Udo asked politely.

“Yes, thanks, Udo,” Hank said as he started to pace the room as he ran his hands through his hair.

When Udo handed Hank the tea, Hank sat down but didn’t say anything and just sipped on the tea. 

“What would you like to talk about, Dr. Hank?” Udo offered, sipped on his own tea and hoped that his calm energy would help Dr. Hank to feel better.

Hank sighed deeply and said, “I just don’t like being here. I’m uncomfortable with the tension I feel from everyone, from Boris, from Khalil and his guys; only you seem to be a peace. I really appreciate your calmness, you know. And I know this visit has to go well and I’m afraid I’ll mess it up. I’m so worried about Boris that I’m a wreck and I have to be strong for him.”

“You have such a caring heart, Sir, please know that we will all survive this. Our success will be in layers; the first layer is our physical safety. Khalil has done everything and more than even what you and the Master know about to ensure this layer. The second layer is the plan to re-connect with the family. We have come all this way from America to meet with them, that is impressive and they know we are sincere; they are also not like the others in the family and so the success we seek here is nearly obtained already; it will be their responsibility to accept the connection so that we can all move forward. The third and final layer will be our own...” Udo paused for a moment, “Mental and emotional success to whatever the outcome will be. We are already almost two-thirds successful, take comfort in that, Dr. Hank.”

“Well, that makes a lot of sense,” Hank nodded his head, took a deep breath and another sip of tea, “The language barrier is bothering me, although Boris said you will be helping me with that; um, I have to say thank you very much, Udo.”

“You are most welcome, Dr. Hank, it is my pleasure,” Udo said with a pleasant smile and a slight bow with his head, “Please know that you, Sir, will not ‘mess this up’, as you say. I should like to think that they are as nervous about this as you are, although you would never see it. They guard their expressions.”

“Yeah, kinda like someone else we know, right?” Hank said with a smile. 

Udo smiled slightly and nodded his head, “Also, please know that as I translate, you will hear a lot of formality and such; don’t worry about any of that until I suggest to you that there is something to worry about.”

“Okay, will do. Hey, do you think that Boris is doing okay right now? Talk about guarded expressions, gees; I know he is keeping this close to him and I’m worried that it will affect him physically at some point, so I’m trying to just be aware, you know, for his sake,” Hank said.

“I have been watching the Master as well and so far, I am confident that all is as well as it can be at this point. I am very pleased that he is still eating and the fact that he is taking a nap right now is a very good thing. I want to say to you, Dr. Hank, that I truly believe the Master is trying to take better care of himself because of you; he did not do any of this or act this way before you came into his life and because he has been with other habits for so long, he is working hard to change for the better; although I know the Master has been less than successful at times, he is getting better,” Udo said with all honesty.

There was a pause as Udo could tell that Hank was thinking about things.

“They are worried, too, I am almost certain of this,” Udo said gently as he wanted to show Hank a different perspective.

“Who? The family? Why would they be worried?” Hank asked as he was now very confused.

Udo continued, “Yes, here is why: they are meeting YOU for the first time, Sir. You are the Master’s new husband; and the Master had never married before you. That, and your relationship, is very different from what is traditional. The Master is also important and that makes you important as well. You are also an American and many Russians are confused about Americans because they receive mixed information about what Americans are like, so I am certain that they are nervous about meeting you. Also, you are a doctor and that adds even more to your importance. One more thing, Dr. Hank…”

“Okay…” Hank asked but his head spun from all of this information and he found himself more eager now to get past the family situation and onto Paris with Boris.

Udo then said with seriousness, “Always stay at his right hand side and equal to his position, not behind him like you often do. I know you have now become accustomed to being seated at his right; continue to do so, even if it is suggested otherwise. Stand your ground, the family may test you on this by asking you to sit somewhere else at the dining table. His right side is the side of honor and you deserve all of the honor that is due to you, never let anyone take that from you.”

Hank smiled and finished his tea, “I didn’t think about it that way. Thank you, Udo, for talking with me. This has been helpful, really helpful. Oh, and thanks for the tea. I’m going to go back to our suite and see if he is up yet.”

 

Hank left Udo’s suite and was escorted down the hall by Anton. Hank looked down the hall and saw two men in black suits, black turtleneck sweaters, and black boots standing next to the elevator and assumed they were part of Austria. Anton saw Hank look at the guards and smiled warmly at him with the hope of easing any tension that Hank might be feeling. Everyone on the Shadow Pond Security Team knew of Dr. Hank’s apprehension towards security protocols and presence (even after almost a year) and worked hard to diminish his discomfort. This trip was more militaristic than what Dr. Hank was accustomed to and they could tell he was almost fearful.

Hank whispered to Anton, “They look like they’re about seven feet tall.”

Anton whispered back, “They almost are, really.”

Hank said, “Oh.”

 

Hank entered their suite and went into the bedroom to find Boris still asleep. Hank looked at his wrist watch and saw that it was close to an hour since Boris had lain down. He stood by the bed and looked down at Boris fondly but also with Dr. Hank eyes. Boris’ color looked good and his breathing was even and deep; Hank reached down to touch Boris’ right hand which was flat across his belt buckle. Boris’ hand felt cool, but it was his normal temperature and at the same time Hank also gently placed two fingers at Boris’ wrist to take his pulse – which was steady. Satisfied that everything seemed normal, he pulled his hand away slowly. Boris took a deep breath and turned his head to one side.

As Hank began to step away, Boris said quietly, “Hank, is that you?” He opened his eyes slowly and focused them on Hank.

“Hi Boris, yeah, it’s me, I’m sorry if I woke you,” Hank said as he stepped back and sat on the corner of the bed; Hank placed his hand on Boris’ trouser leg just above his ankle, “Did you sleep well?”

“Ja, very much so, have you been here long?” Boris asked as he sat up. As he did so, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the night stand and read the note Hank had written him telling Boris that he was with Udo.

“No, I just came back from having tea with Udo,” Hank said cheerfully.

“Very nice, Udo is well I take it?” Boris asked as he looked around the room and rubbed the back of his neck.

“He’s good,” Hank said calmly.

Boris looked at Hank, tilted his head slightly and said, “I see that Udo has worked his magic on you, ja? Good, I prefer you this way rather than the other way.”

“What other way?” Hank asked knowing what Boris would say.

Simultaneously, both men said, “Worried.” 

 

Dinner at the Palace’s restaurant ‘Maria Carlotta’ was a superb blend of Russian and European recipes. Hank enjoyed the Chicken with Mushroom Ravioli Soup, the Classic Beef Stroganoff and a desert of Vanilla Crème Brule with Warm Rhubarb Compote; Boris enjoyed the Blini with Black Caviar and Sour Cream, the Veal Cheeks with Squid Ink Farfalle and Demi-glace Sauce and a desert of Warm Pear with Bitter Chocolate Sauce. 

Boris politely asked Hank if they could order ‘just one’ glass of the rare vintage Krasnodar (an area in Southern Russia near the Black Sea) Cabernet Sauvignon wine to go with dinner (“…but Hank, you will take utter delight in how the wine will enhance your beef dish…”) and in return, Boris would forego ordering the 40-year old tawny port to have after their dessert. Hank agreed but saw that it pained Boris to turn down the aged port.

 

Comfortable in bed now, it was near to midnight and the two men were still awake. Hank’s head was on Boris’ shoulder, his left arm across Boris’ body. The legs were stretched out along side one another and touching. Boris’s right hand rested on Hank’s left arm and Boris lovingly stroked Hank’s hair with the fingers of his left hand. It was quiet and the lights from St. Petersburg cast a silver light through the sheers hanging in front of the windows in their suite. They were both thinking about the next day.

“I just want you to know, Tree, that I’m ready for tomorrow,” Hank said confidently.

“I thought that I could sense a change in you as the evening wore on, and, I would like to thank you for your courage and your strength. It, and you, help to keep me on a truer path,” Boris said quietly, “Do you have any questions?”

“Uh, I can’t think of anything right now; I just want to get into it to see what happens next. I think I’m tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop, I mean, I want to get this over and done with and see where we stand,” Hank said thoughtfully, “We should really try to get some sleep; we need to be rested and sharp tomorrow.”

“I know, but I am not sleepy,” Boris admitted.

In the soft light, Hank turned his head to look at Boris and Boris tilted his head to look at Hank. Boris’ expression was calm and began to grow amused as he watched Hank’s expression change to something else…

“What cleverness are you contemplating, my beloved One?” Boris asked.

Hank smiled slightly, pushed against Boris’ chest with his hand and moved upward to kiss Boris’ neck and nibble on his left earlobe; Hank then reached his left hand upward towards Boris’ temple and started to run his fingers through Boris’ long silver hair and hold his head at an angle for better kissing; from Boris’ neck, Hank replied as he kissed Boris along his neck and jaw, “We need our sleep…we can’t sleep because…we’re not tired enough…and I know how we can get tired…”

Boris closed his eyes, smiled with pleasure, and tilted his head further towards Hank’s attention; his heart began to beat faster and he began to feel so very good. Their masculine bodies reacted as only those bodies can react and the electricity between them fueled their passions. Hank moved slightly more now and moved Boris somewhat so that Hank could use his other hand to do other pleasant things to his husband. Boris’ hands too, now, began to caress Hank in places where Hank enjoyed the treatment. Kisses became more intense and eyes closed because of that intensity.

Bed clothes and bedding did not stand in the way of the progress that the two husbands had in mind. They were also not in any hurry to see anything finish quickly and they took great pleasure in the slow undressing of one another underneath the bed covers. A silk pajama shirt was unbuttoned and trousers were removed and both tossed to the foot of the bed; a cotton sleep shirt and sleep pants were pulled away and they too, went to rest on top of the silk. The crisp cotton sheets were soon warmed by their body heat, the blankets remained upon them as they were soft and comfortable and neither man wanted to feel any sort of chilly air.

Smooth skin and soft hair was caressed; they refrained from rushing and savored what they felt upon each other’s bodies. Very soon though they could not hold back from the forces within them and their movements became faster and energetic. Deep sounds came from each lover as their pleasure took them.

“I love you, H-hank, my beloved One…” Boris whispered in Hank’s ear.

Hank, too, whispered in response, “I love you back, husband, Boris.”

Very soon afterwards, both men fell into a blissful sleep, this time Boris’ head was on Hank’s shoulder…

 

~~~

 

The morning was not rushed. They awoke naturally at eight and breakfast was served at nine. 

They prepared themselves and dressed for the day. Boris wore a steel grey suit with a dark grey dress shirt, a black neck tie with the faintest of a woven gold tone as the pattern, a blood red paisley and black pocket square and his favorite Italian black leather wing tip shoes. Hank wore a black suit with a dark taupe-on-taupe checked dress shirt, a solid dark blue necktie, a dark grey checked pocket square and black leather silver buckle loafers. Boris also wore his favorite diamond tie bar and cufflinks; Hank wore his royal blue sapphire tie pin, cufflinks and collar pin; and both men, of course, wore their wedding rings.

Their faces took on serious expressions as the morning progressed and they were ready to meet and overcome whatever obstacles would come their way.

Udo, Khalil and his team also wore black suits, shirts, ties and shoes; all members of Austria wore black on black suits as well as black boots. Even the now five cars in the entourage, the five, very large, BMW 740-e xDrive Hybrids, were all black. Boris knew that large black German-made automobiles were coveted in Russian amongst the elite portion of society and he intended to play that card fully as a show of force. 

The imagery that all of this presented was one of power and confidence, which is exactly how Boris felt that morning. He was ready for business and was also ready to drop it and move forward if they were threatened and danger presented itself. 

Hank felt his husband’s confidence and that helped to bolster Hank confidence further (and this was something that Boris also had intended to do). 

This required a great deal of energy on Boris’ part and as the day wore on, he dug deep to maintain it. He was relieved that the family meeting would be a visit over tea and then a late lunch with possibly beverages served afterwards. All of this was dependent on how well the meeting went and whether they would be able to be agreeable with each other. It had simply been too many years since any form of cordial relations were experienced by both sides.

The drive from the Trezzini Palace Hotel to the Ratenicz Estate, which was back across River Bolshaya Neva in the Admiral Teysky District, took only 30 minutes. St. Petersburg’s rush hour traffic had already come and gone and the drive through the city was uneventful. 

Cars 1 and 2 each held two of the Austria team; Car 3 was driven by Khalil, with Udo, Boris, and Hank; Car 4 was driven by Anton, with Yussef and Richard; and lastly, in Car 5, were the final two members of the Austria team. The plan was confirmed that five members of the Austria team would stay outside with the vehicles at all times, while Boris and Hank were followed closely by Udo and surrounded by Khalil, Anton, Yussef, Richard and ‘Mr. 36’ (as he was known), the Austria Team’s Leader.

They drove across the Obvodniy Channel and down past the Narva Gate Museum and its adjacent park. The estate house was quite large by St. Petersburg standards and had the neoclassical Italian architecture that was so prevalent in that city. Three stories high, the house was surrounded by its own carefully manicured gardens and since it was next to another park, it looked like all of the grounds belonged to the estate. The most coveted real estate in St. Petersburg were those pieces of land which were next to parks and other important buildings.

The name of the Ratenicz estate was called Dom Pamyatnika, or Monument House. There were large elaborate wrought iron gates which when opened offered a long straight drive leading up to the center front of the house and the drive was paved and smooth; the terminus of the drive was a circular drive which went around a large functioning fountain which had a statue at its center of a man in medieval Russian battle garb and helmet and it held a tall lance. Two impressive carved wooden doors marked the main entrance of the house and there were seven steps from the drive which lead up into the house. The design on the iron railings on either side of the steps matched the iron on the entrance gates.

As they drove slowly down the drive, Hank looked back at Boris from the window of the car, smiled and said, “Shadow Pond is way nicer than this even on a bad day.”

Boris smiled in spite of the tension he held and even chuckled. 

As that was exactly the reaction that Hank wanted from Boris; he wore a very pleased expression and nodded his head.

Everyone exited all of the vehicles except for Udo, Boris and Hank. Khalil’s and Austria’s team went into formation and waited. Khalil became satisfied with the set up just as the doors opened and the Head Butler, Mikhail, stepped down the steps to be level with the drive.

Udo received the all clear on the earpiece from Khalil and he got out, closed his door, and then opened the door for Boris and Hank. Boris climbed out of the vehicle first, followed by Hank and they both stood next to the vehicle and off to one side of the still open door for a few moments. Boris’s left hand rested on the roof of the car and where Hank stood next to him and somewhat behind the open car door, it almost looked like Boris was protecting Hank with his body and their placement next to the car. (Which was actually what Boris was doing…)

Boris and Udo looked at each other and Udo went to meet with Mikhail at the base of the steps. They spoke quietly in Russian, greeted each other politely, and Udo asked if they were too early (which they both knew they weren’t); to which Mikhail assured Udo they were right on time (which they both knew they were).

Mikhail then said, loudly in Russian, “Welcome to Monument House, gentlemen.” He bowed formally in the direction of Boris and Hank, “Please come this way,” And he held out his right hand and arm towards the steps and the open doors to the house.

Udo looked back at Boris and Hank, and Boris nodded ever so slightly. Boris and Hank looked at each other, their eyes locked and Boris smiled ever so slightly at Hank and Hank responded in kind at Boris.

Udo walked forward and Boris and Hank followed behind him with Khalil and his team and Mr. 36 close behind and around them. As they entered the foyer of the house, Khalil and the others followed inside, and throughout the visit and wherever they went throughout Monument House, they remained at a discreet yet ever-present distance from Boris and Hank. Neither Boris nor Hank would be alone at any time.

Also as they entered, the only sound was of Boris’ cane clicking lightly on the marble floor. Boris and Hank saw several other Monument House staffers in formal uniforms positioned around the large foyer as well as two men and one woman, all of very senior age. 

One of the men looked older than the other and had a long dark grey and white beard and long white hair which was captured in a pony tail at the back of his neck; he was tall and thin and had dark grey eyes. The other man had short cropped white hair and wore no beard or moustache, and even though he was almost as tall as the other man, he was portly and also had dark grey eyes. The woman was tall and had white hair that was piled up on top of her head in an elegant fashion, and she had high cheekbones and blue eyes. The three of them stood in the foyer’s center almost underneath a large crystal chandelier. They were dressed formally, the men in dark grey suits and the lady in a long brown dress and an amber-toned shawl; they stood very stiff, but regally, with their hands clasped in front of them; their expressions were calm, watchful and expectant.

For a moment, nothing happened because everyone was looking at one another intently. The two gentlemen flanked the lady and the three of them took three steps forward; Hank stood at Boris’ right side with Udo directly behind him and to his right, and they then also took three steps forward.

The lady took one more step forward and so did Boris; she held out her right hand in front of her and he took it with his right hand, bowed formally to her, and kissed the back of her hand lightly.

The lady said, in Russian, “Welcome back to Monument House, Nephew Boris. It has been many years, yes?”

Boris replied, in Russian, as he straightened from the bow, “Yes, Lady Aunt Marta, it has; you are looking as splendid as always,” Boris released her hand and they looked at each other for a moment; she smiled slightly at Boris and nodded her head as an acceptance of his compliment.

The two gentlemen now stepped forward and Boris greeted, in Russian, the bearded man first with a formal bow, his hands clasped behind his back, “Good morning, Sir Uncle Vasily. Thank you for accepting our request for a visit.”

Uncle Vasily, looked at Boris as he rose from the bow and replied in Russian, “Hello, Nephew, it was a great surprise to hear from you after such a long time. Welcome back, it is good to see you again.”

Boris turned towards the other gentleman, bowed formally again and said, in Russian, “Good morning, Sir Uncle Stanislav, I trust you are well.”

Uncle Stanislav also watched Boris straighten from the bow and replied, in Russian, “Greetings, young Nephew Boris, yes, I am very well, thank you for asking.”

Throughout all of the greetings, Udo was translating every word for Hank’s benefit. He spoke quietly into Hank’s right ear and if one stood more than a half of an arm’s length away from the two of them, one would hear nothing and yet only see Udo’s lips move.

The two Uncles and the Aunt looked at each other briefly and then turned their attention to Hank. If he had not felt like he was on display, he felt it completely at that moment. Each of them slowly looked at him from head to toe; they scrutinized his posture, his clothing, and his countenance. He thought he might have seen a look of approval from the Aunt, but he certainly could not read the expressions of the Uncles.

Hank stood very tall, his hands were clasped in front of him, his blue eyes were bright and he individually met their gazes with confidence. 

Boris turned to his right and held out his open hand towards Hank, to which Hank stepped forward to stand at Boris’ side. Boris said proudly, still in Russian, “At this time, Sir Uncles and Lady Aunt, please allow me to introduce to you my husband, Dr. Hank Lawson.”


	23. R is for Ratenicz, Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is there love in Russia?

Hank bowed formally towards the three seniors and said, “Good morning, Sirs and Lady, thank you very much for allowing me to come here to visit today.”

Boris translated what Hank said for his Uncles and Aunt.

Lady Marta asked Hank in Russian, and with sincere concern, “Are you completely healed from that terrible accident, Doctor?”

Udo continued to translate for Hank.

Hank smiled as he appreciated her consideration and replied, “Yes, Ma’am, I am completely well at this time. Thank you for your concern.”

Boris continued to translate the English into Russian for his Elders.

The look of relief on the faces of both the Uncles and the Aunt was obvious and they nodded their heads and smiled politely at both Hank and Boris, who politely smiled back at them. The ice was slowly melting…

Continuing in Russian, Uncle Vasily then said, “Come, let us be seated in the Drawing Room and have some tea so we can talk like civilized people.”

Everyone turned and Mikhail escorted the Uncles, the Aunt, Boris, and Hank (with Udo in tow) into the next room. (Khalil and the others filtered in and took up their positions at the far end of the room.) The Drawing Room was impressive as it was filled with antique statuary, artwork and furniture. A group of five large chairs were situated around a low table and it all was in front of an enormous stone fireplace. There was a fairly large fire burning in the fireplace and an elegant silver tea service had been placed on the low table in front of the chairs. Vasily waved everyone over to the chairs and sat first in a chair closest to the fireplace on the left, Stanislav motioned for Hank to sit in the chair next to the fireplace on the right (directly across from Vasily) and for Boris to sit to Hank’s left and then he sat in the next chair with Marta sat next to him. Mikhail then went about and prepared and served their tea.

Someone had been kind enough to place a small stool next to Hank’s chair for Udo to sit on while he translated for Hank.

Boris saw this and decided that it wasn’t time yet for him to ask if they could speak English for Hank’s behalf. Boris knew how this worked and he would have to watch for a proper moment to ask for this favor. He hoped that his Elders would come to this decision on their own, and soon, as they were not known to grant too many favors. He knew they spoke fluent English and this was all a test – of both he and Hank, but especially Hank – to see how he functioned under (in the Elders’ minds) the simple pressure of a language barrier. 

And so the conversation continued on in Russian between the Uncles, the Aunt and Boris. 

Hank paid close attention to everyone because he didn’t want to be caught unaware of when they would actually ask him or tell him something. Hank was simply amazed at Udo’s prowess in translating; Hank had never been in a situation like this and he knew he would be forever grateful to Udo for this. There was only a slight delay from when something was said in Russian to when Hank heard it at his ear in English.

Similar to how Hank’s conversation had gone with Albert, when Albert had asked Hank how they had met, so too the conversation went for Boris and his Elders; but this conversation was a lot less cordial. Stanislav asked this question; Boris was forthright with his speaking and did not elaborate on many details. His Elders were not outwardly emotional people and he knew and respected that. If they wanted to know something specific, they would certainly, and bluntly, come to the point and ask.

Case in point: Vasily, the bearded and older of the three Elders generally took the lead in conversation and was the most direct. Vasily asked Boris, “So, Nephew, the most important question we have is this: why did you decide to marry Dr. Lawson?” He looked at Boris directly with dark eyes.

Boris’ grey eyes looked directly at Uncle Vasily and he replied without hesitation, “Uncle, I married Dr. Lawson because I love him.” 

There was a moment of silence and somehow that silence echoed in the large room. 

Stanislav spoke next, “You have always been the most…unusual…of any of our nephews, Boris; the most rebellious, too. You have also always been the most intelligent and your actions are simply…” And he trailed off as if he tried to find the correct word as he looked at his brother and sister.

Simultaneously, Vasily and Marta said, “Unique.”

Boris continued to look at all three of his Elders; he was thinking about a number of responses and was weighing each one to see which would have the most impact but create the least amount of damage.

“Well, then, I am staying true to my nature, ja?” Boris said plainly.

Marta laughed lightly, “I, for one, would expect nothing less of you, Boris, but my brothers here have their own opinions.”

Stanislav, the most critical one of the three, spoke again, “Where did you learn that marriage in this family had to involve anything else besides business or lineage, Boris? You, who are so savvy in the ways of business? Love (he made the word ‘love’ sound distasteful) only comes around when you’ve been with your spouse after decades and you get bored with each other and need something else to do.”

Marta scolded Stanislav, “Oh, be quiet, Stanu, just because you have a loveless marriage doesn’t mean that you can require everyone else to have the same.”

Vasily then spoke, “Speaking of business, we should like to thank you in person, Boris, for your expertise with our family businesses. They are doing quite well now because of your guidance,” Vasily paused, and appeared to be thinking, then said, “Now, I only somewhat agree with Stanu’s take on the business of marriage, I do not agree with his aggression behind the statement. We cannot deny that marriage is a business of sorts especially in our family, so,” He paused a moment and looked at Hank, then looked at Boris again, “You must understand that we were concerned when your union became formal.”

“Ja, Uncle, it was my pleasure to assist with the family’s businesses here, and I understand your concerns. Since I have proven my worth to the Ratenicz family in the ways of business, I had decided that what I do with my own life is my own business,” Boris said honestly, “It was time, and rather overdue I might add, to make my own life worthy to myself in the fashion that I wished it to be.”

Stanislav then rudely said, “So, you just went ahead, Nephew, and halted the lineage and then didn’t receive any payment for that in return; come to think of it, we didn’t receive a buy-out,” Which was a poorly veiled comment that Hank didn’t come from money nor did he have royal blood in him, and that the family didn’t receive any kind of compensation for its troubles over losing a way to propel the family lineage forward, and therefore, in Stanislav’s eyes was worthless.

“Stanu! Oh, goodness, you are such a troublemaker sometimes!” Marta exclaimed; she wanted to call her brother something much worse but she knew that Udo was translating and the conversation was already too strange for her personal sensibilities, so she took the polite route in her speaking.

Boris maintained his calm, spoke honestly and confidently, “No, Uncle, I only married for love, not for money nor station nor pedigree,” Boris almost said breeding, but changed his mind.

After a moment, as Boris’ words hung in the air, Vasily then said, “We have some questions now for you, Doctor.”

“Yes, Sir?” Hank said with an open, confident expression and internally he prepared himself for the worse. He looked over at Boris with the ‘I got this’ look and Boris looked at him with an expression of pride and an ever-so-slight curl to his lips.

This exchange of connection was not lost on Boris’ Elders; Vasily was curious, Stanislav was annoyed, and Marta was charmed.

Vasily continued, “Dr. Lawson, we wish to know why you married our nephew, Boris. What are your specific and detailed reasons?”

Hank looked directly at Vasily and with a confident voice which came from the ‘old soul’ in Hank, he replied, “Specifically? I married Boris because I love him and I care about him. The detailed reasons? Well, please forgive me, Sirs, and Ma’am, but that’s really none of your business.” 

Vasily pressed further apparently unfazed by Hank’s suddenly stronger attitude, “Surely you can tell us a little more about WHY you married him?” Vasily had now become intrigued by Hank because of this show of strength; as Hank had been quiet, but remained alert, during their conversations and seemed to be indifferent about the language barrier, Vasily now (and Marta and Stanislav as well) wanted to test Hank’s metal just a little further. Boris’ responses had been respectful as expected, and now the Elders wanted to see ‘the fire’ in the situation and felt they could get it, or at least something somewhat more interesting, out of Hank. 

Hank’s simple answer was, “I married Boris because he is an extraordinary man, and so I am, and we deserve each other,” Hank showed an expression of ‘And that’s all you’re going to get from me on this topic’. 

Boris smiled inwardly as he knew how stubborn Hank could be.

Stanislav now wanted back in on the money/business-part of the conversation and said flatly, “Dr. Lawson, what do you expect to GAIN from this union with our nephew?”

“A lifetime of true and devoted companionship,” Hank replied simply, and then he added, “Isn’t that what everyone wants?” Hank said this with the, now, full knowledge that Uncle Stanislav wasn’t in a happy marriage and just wanted to throw that back at him.

“Don’t you only want his money and his power? Isn’t that what all Americans want?” Stanislav pressed further.

“No, I don’t want his money or his power. I don’t care about any of that,” Hank said with a flat tone of voice. 

Stanislav continued, “We do not believe you. You Americans think you can walk all over Russia and take what is rightfully ours.”

“Stanu, please!” Marta was now very annoyed with her brother. She looked at Vasily with a ‘Do something and stop this rudeness’ expression. 

“First of all, SIR, I’m not walking all over Russia and I’m not ‘taking’ what is yours. I already have what I want and what I want is my husband, Boris. He doesn’t belong to Russia, or to you, for that matter, as far as I am concerned. Boris is not a piece of property; he is his own person, he owns his own choices and makes his own destiny. He’s made his own decisions and it’s about time that someone gives him credit for standing up for himself and doing what is right and good FOR himself. He ends up having to spend way more time caring for others than he does himself, and that’s not right. You clearly have issues, Sir. And, well I can’t help you to understand any more that my reasons for marrying your nephew are exactly what I said they were,” Hank said with force; Hank was angry. 

Vasily thought to himself, ‘There’s the fire I needed to see.’ What Vasily said was, “Stanu, that’s enough, now,” Vasily looked at Stanislav with a stern expression and being the oldest brother, he did have a good deal of say in matters and his brother knew this, too; he said, “You should be more civilized, you know. Boris and Dr. Lawson are not our enemies.”

Stanislav covered his embarrassment of being chided by his older brother in front of Boris and Hank with an expression of annoyance; he knew that Vasily would verbally take it out on him later, but was satisfied that at least he had spoke his mind; Stanislav then said, “I…apologize…for being a boor, gentlemen, please forgive this old man.”

There were a few moments of silence as no one spoke; the words of apology faded and neither Boris nor Hank even nodded their head in acceptance. This was slightly rude on their part, but Hank wasn’t certain what the proper thing to do was (and watched Boris for a cue) and Boris simply didn’t want to openly accept the apology; Boris’ patience had been reached and he was tired. 

The only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire in the fireplace.

Boris then broke the silence and said, “Sir Uncles, Lady Aunt, I wish to request a small favor.” 

His three Elders looked at him with surprise, looked at each other, then looked back at him with curiosity.

Marta replied, “Yes? What is it you that you want, Boris?” Marta, at this point in the visit, was ready to put the posturing behind them and move onward towards a friendlier family relationship, which is what she wanted all along. Boris had always held a special place in her heart (being her only, now, late sister’s son) and she only wanted her nephew to be happy and to be part of the family again. She had plans. Marta guessed that he was happy now that he was married, but it didn’t show on his face and she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Boris truly smile.

Hank thought, 'Whoa! What a loaded question that is!’

Boris thought about a good number of responses to that question, but said confidently and somewhat flatly, “I wish for all of us to speak English now, for my husband’s sake. I believe it would be a polite thing to do for Hank.”

Marta said, in English, “Why, of course, dear Nephew, and Doctor Lawson, it would be my pleasure,” She looked over at her two brothers with an intense and expectant stare.

Vasily said, now in English, “Yes, that will be fine I think, now.”

Stanislav looked at his brother and sister; they looked back at him, he looked at Boris and at Hank, and then after a moment, said in English, “All right, I need the practice anyway.”

Boris replied sincerely, in English, “Thank you, Hank and I, greatly appreciate your consideration.” 

Vasily then asked Hank, “Dr. Lawson, do you have a preference of how you would like us to address you?”

Hank replied as he looked at Boris, “You can call me Dr. Hank if you want; most everyone, except Boris, calls me that.”

Marta asked, “How does Boris address you?”

Hank smiled at her, and thought about the terms of endearment that Boris used, but said, “Boris just calls me Hank.”

At that moment, Mikhail entered the Drawing Room to announce that lunch was ready in the Dining Room. Everyone stood up and began to walk towards Mikhail to follow him.

When the Elders’ turned away, Boris and Hank looked at each other with intent and with the hope that they would each understand that they really wanted to touch one another on their arms, as they always did to re-connect.

Khalil, his men, and Mr. 36 all moved with the group down a long hallway that had tall windows, and many portraits. The floor was a mosaic of dark tiles and the ceiling was ornate with gilded carved wood accents.

As they walked, Vasily said to Boris, “Nephew, do the two of you go everywhere with this much fire power?” (He, of course, was referring to Khalil and the others and waved a hand in their direction.)

“I am sad to say, Sir Uncle, that it has become a necessity since we have had a minor invasion of our home in America and that Hank was attacked,” Boris said flatly as he watched half of his security team enter the Dining Room ahead of them and begin to form a perimeter.

“That is bad news, indeed, Nephew,” Vasily said with compassion, and then turned to Hank and asked as he motioned his hand across his torso, “Are you truly well now, Dr. Hank? I was told that you were attacked with a knife and in someplace here... an important area, truly.”

Stanislav interrupted, “Do you think you are not safe here in the family home, Boris?”

Hank looked up at Boris and wondered if this was going to trigger something in him, and then quickly looked at Vasily and replied, “Yes, Sir, I am well, that’s correct and the injury was…down…here” Hank said this tentatively and pointed on his suit to where the injury site was. Hank looked up at Boris again and Boris looked at Hank and smiled slightly as if to say that he was ‘just fine at the moment’.

“Sir Uncle, I have had to learn to be prepared for any and all circumstances, no matter where they may occur,” Boris replied to Stanislav.

Stanislav nodded as he understood and respected that mode of operating; he thought to himself, ‘This boy understands how to work with the world, perhaps I need to be more considerate to him...’

As they came close to the dining table, Vasily said, “That too is bad news, but I am relieved that you have recovered, Dr. Hank. Please let us be seated.”

The dining table was set beautifully and perfectly. Vasily sat at the head of the table and he motioned Boris to sit at his right; Hank immediately took the seat to Boris’ right and this motion was not lost on Boris’ Elders. Marta sat on Vasily’s left and directly across from Boris (she smiled at Boris and he smiled slightly back at her and slightly bowed his head), and Stanislav sat on her left and across from Hank. The two of them looked at each other and nodded. Everyone settled onto their chairs and the servers came and assisted with napkins and poured everyone a glass of champagne.

Vasily stood up at his place and held his glass up in a toast, he gathered his thoughts and for a moment, he was going to say something else, but then said, “Congratulations, gentlemen on your union. Welcome Dr. Hank to the Ratenicz family; and may you both have a long and healthy lives.” 

Boris and Hank said calmly, “Thank you,” However, inside they were shocked.

Marta said, “I hope, Dr. Hank, that you enjoy French food. Our chef has prepared a wonderful lunch for us this afternoon.”

“Yes, Ma’am, I do. When we travel, Boris sees to it that I get the opportunity to experience many types of foods,” Hank responded politely and smiled fully at her.

Marta was struck momentarily, and in a good way, by his smile and his eyes which were shining in the bright sunlight that came in through the tall windows of the dining room. She looked at her nephew and thought about how stoic he always seemed to be and wondered if he, too, had been struck by Dr. Hank’s charm. Boris then looked at his Aunt and she smiled warmly at him. He smiled a small smile, but his smile was genuine.

During lunch, Boris’ Elders asked Hank many questions about America. They were very curious about a lot of things and explained that Russian politics were always in the way of Russian citizens being able to learn the truth about anything to do with America, and the rest of the world, for that matter. They were pleased to learn that the same thing often happened in America, too. They all agreed that the average citizen of any country was just like every other citizen of any other country in that they all wanted to live full, happy, and healthy lives, pay their bills, put food on the table, and whenever possible, to raise intelligent, productive children.

Boris sat there quietly and was attentive although he ate sparingly (which was not lost on Hank), and felt like he was just going through the motions necessary for him to function at this event. Boris was now weary and wanted his privacy back. And although it appeared that his family rift had been repaired, he wanted to retreat from the world with Hank and feel safe and free again. It simply felt uncomfortably odd to him that there was friendliness and family at the same time.

The champagne kept flowing and everyone relaxed; the delicious food also brought them closer and the Elders were very pleased that Hank’s appetite was as robust as it was. 

Stanislav said, “Young man, you would survive Russian winters quite well with the fuel you are taking in!”

Marta said, as she noticed how little Boris ate, “I see, Nephew, that your dining habits have not changed after all of these years. Dr. Hank, you are a doctor, what do you think about this? As his aunt, I have always been concerned that he does not eat enough; would you be so kind and assist this old woman and try to get him to eat more? He needs to maintain his health.”

“Yes, Ma’am, we are working on that,” Hank replied as he looked at Boris.

After the meal, coffee and dessert was served at the table and the topic of travel came up. Stanislav mentioned he had recently been to Romania and the Czech Republic on business. Marta had not traveled in three years and she was happy about that as she felt uncomfortable to fly now and preferred to stay on the ground; Vasily had not traveled and asked if the two men had traveled recently. 

Boris described that they had been to Portugal, South Africa, Morocco within the past year on a combination business/pleasure trip, (he did not use the word ‘honeymoon’) as well as to the island of St. Lucia to "...warm up from the winter." Boris also told them that they had been to Germany and Hungary on their way to Russian on this trip and further explained that they would be leaving Europe the day after next, but he didn’t tell them that they would stop over in Paris on the way home to America.

Vasily told Hank, “Your…husband…has always been somewhat of a, what’s the word, Marta?”

“Globe trotter,” Marta replied with a smile.

“Yes! A globe trotter; there were times when we did not know where Boris was and he would always be gone for long periods of time. Do you like to travel, Dr. Hank?” Vasily spoke in a pleasant and reminiscent tone to his voice.

“I do enjoy traveling, especially with Boris, he knows so much about the world and he helps me to expand my horizons,” Hank said proudly. Hank looked at Boris and smiled fully; Boris nodded and smiled slightly back at him and at them. Dr. Hank could see Boris’ weariness and he became concerned, but kept it from his expression.

Boris wasn’t about to show even half the emotion he felt while he was in Monument House, even though he wanted to with Hank and for Hank’s sake. Boris simply could not bring himself to be any less reserved that he always had been whenever he went to Russia and certainly not in front of his Elders, even though they had seemed to warm to their visit, were apparently happy to see Boris, and were now quite taken with Hank. He felt the old tug of training that emotion shown ‘in excess’ was a weakness and he kept himself tense to keep his expression in check and formal. This whole process was more difficult for him now and he had to work hard to maintain this; the past nine months with Hank had changed Boris considerably and he had grown accustomed to being freer with his expressions and his feelings especially when Hank was around him. 

After lunch, Mikhail led the group to a Sitting Room which was a room with glass walls and a glass ceiling. There were many potted plants and white, ornate, iron patio-style furniture and Hank commented that they should have called the space: the Garden Room. Marta loved that idea and said they would sincerely consider it. They were seated in a comfortable area where everyone had a view of the outdoor gardens on the grounds of the property. 

The sunlight coming into the room was delightful and Boris commented as such. He felt that it was proper to comment on the beautiful setting and complimented his Elders that the room looked as special as he remembered it to be.

Marta said, mostly to Hank, “This was always Boris’ favorite room in this house. Whenever he stayed here at Monument House, if ever we needed to find him, we would start to look here first.”

Over glasses of ice cold vodka served to all, Vasily said to Boris, “We have some business to discuss with you Nephew. It is regarding Dima.”

Hank somewhat froze but hid his alarm well. 

Boris also stiffened and even though he tried to hide the mannerism, Hank noticed it and the set in Boris’ jaw.

“Ja, Sir Uncle, what about...Dima?” Boris said slowly, and added the ‘Sir’ back into Vasily’s title as this was now a discussion about business.

“The three of us have discussed this at length,” Vasily said as if preparing to launch into a diplomatic mission (Stanislav and Marta nodded their heads), “And we have decided to cease asking you to have Dima exhumed and reinterred here in the family crypt. We know this has been a major point of contention between us and you, and we have grown fatigued of this disparity,” Vasily paused a moment and then chuckled, “This is what happens when you grow old; and I warn you young men about this, you must use what energies you have left and chose your battles wisely.”

Vasily continued, “Nephew Boris, your dedication to Dima has shown us a great example of the highest form of respect and you have taught us how to accept Dima’s wishes by your own personal decisions and actions. We understand now that Dima needs to be where he has felt was his home, in Budapest.” 

Marta then added pleasantly, “Besides, Nephew, Budapest is a lovely city and it will give us the opportunity to visit it when we pay our respects to Dima. I can take the train there.”

Stanislav said, “You did a fine job on his monument, Nephew.”

Boris felt absolute relief and his tense posture softened, but only somewhat. He bowed his head individually to each of his uncles and his aunt, then raised his glass and said in Russian, “Thank you.”

They all drank their vodka and nodded their heads in approval of the velvety smooth liquid. They drank Russian Standard Gold Vodka that afternoon as it was a special occasion.

Vasily said to Hank, “You drink the vodka like a Russian, Dr. Hank, we didn’t think Americans understood this.”

Hank replied lightly, “Boris taught me this and he and I drink the Imperia often at home.”

To which the Elders nodded their approval of learning this about the two of them (and of Hank).

Boris made a surreptitious hand signal which was seen by both Udo and Khalil; Boris placed his empty glass on the table, stood up and then said, “Please forgive us, Sir Uncles and Lady Aunt, but we shall take our leave of you at this time,” (Hank stood up as well), “We thank you for your generous hospitality and the opportunity to reconnect. This has been a most pleasant visit.”

Vasily stood up first, followed by Stanislav and then Marta, and said, “It was good that this day happened, yes?”

“Ja, Sir Uncle…very good,” Boris replied warmly; he began to think that it might be safe to feel less formal and closed off.

Marta then asked, “Will the both of you come back for a formal dinner tomorrow evening at, say eight o’clock? We should like to see you again before you return to America.”

Boris looked at Hank as if to ask if this was a good thing to do and Hank nodded happily. (The Elders noticed this communication between the men.) Boris then replied, “We would be delighted to do so, thank you, Lady Aunt Marta,” He took her hand, kissed the back of it lightly and bowed to her. Their eyes met and they smiled slightly at each other.

Boris once again formally bowed to both of his uncles and they nodded their acceptance. 

Hank followed all of Boris’ movements perfectly and he felt like he was in a movie.

Udo, Khalil and the others had started to move, and did so at the speed that Boris and Hank walked as they left the Sitting Room; they all followed Mikhail. 

After Boris and Hank had left the Sitting Room, Stanislav said, “Did you see their gold and diamond rings? Those are worth a fortune! Their businesses must be doing well also.”

Marta commented, “I am happy for them; it is about time that our Nephew has someone to share his life with.”

Vasily then said, “I like Dr. Lawson a great deal; I should like to speak with him more, he is an interesting fellow.”

Escorted by Mikhail through the house, Boris, Hank, Udo and the rest retrieved and donned their coats in the Foyer, and then walked down the steps to the awaiting vehicles. 

Hank noticed Boris’ gait was slower and his right foot had begun to drag, he had also started to lean on his cane; Hank knew that once they got back to the hotel, Boris would probably crash…but hopefully not burn.

Boris stood ramrod straight as he walked, grateful for his cane as it gave him something else to focus on, because he felt that if he relaxed even the slightest bit, he would probably do so and become a puddle on the floor.

Hank motioned for Boris to enter the car first and then followed him inside; but not before Hank and Udo exchanged glances. Boris sat quietly as he looked out of the car window at the house.

Everyone in the entourage was now inside the vehicles and the caravan drove slowly down the drive to the gates. Only after they passed out of the gates and were out on the city street did Boris look over at Hank and reach to hold his arm. Hank placed his hand on top of Boris’ hand. They both sighed deeply but said nothing. The drive back to the hotel took somewhat longer because the vehicles got stuck in late afternoon rush hour.

While they waited at a traffic light, Boris quietly said to Hank, “Would it be all right, my beloved One, if we had our dinner in-room this evening?”

“Of course, whatever you want is okay with me,” Hank said lovingly and he squeezed Boris’ hand a little more firmly.

“Udo?” Boris asked.

Udo was in the front passenger’s seat, he turned, looked at Boris and replied, “Yes, Master?”

“I should only want a small bowl of hot soup, some wine and a piece of bread for my dinner this evening. Would you please make the arrangements for our dinner…er…and not early. Ah, and I am certain that Hank is hungry now, so a snack may be nice for him after we arrive and then he will need a hearty dinner, ja?” Boris asked politely as he glanced at Hank.

“Of course, Sir; and, Dr. Hank, what would you like for dinner?” Udo asked.

“Surprise me, Udo!” Hank said cheerfully. He loved the way Boris always thought of him and his needs, but of course, being Hank, he continued to worry about Boris and what Boris’ needs were. To Dr. Hank, Boris was beginning to withdraw and would certainly need the peaceful comfort of their suite very soon to somewhat recharge. Hank hoped that the two of them could spend the early evening close together; Hank wanted to hold Boris and show him absolute support.

“Excuse me, Khalil, I do not wish to interrupt your concentration whilst you drive these busy streets, but I want to thank you and your team for an exemplary job today,” Boris said formally.

Khalil nodded and replied, “You are welcome, Sir, it was our pleasure,” Inside, Khalil was quite pleased at how fluid everything went and he was especially happy that nothing happened at all. ‘Hopefully,’ Khalil thought to himself, ‘All will go well at the formal dinner tomorrow night.’ Khalil was not about to let his guard down for one moment while they were in Russia.

Boris then became pensive and said no more during the ride back to the hotel.

The entourage arrived back at Trezzini and the two men were swiftly and efficiently escorted through the lobby and up into their suite. Once the door to their suite had closed, Boris walked directly to the window in the lounge area and stood there looking out of the window. Udo told Hank that he would arrange his snack to arrive within a few moments and Hank also asked for coffee – which he thought Boris would enjoy…and need. Hank then joined Boris at the window.

Finally, they were all alone and Boris turned to study Hank’s face for ‘what seemed liked forever’ (Hank’s thoughts). Hank didn’t say anything; he just looked up at Boris with a calm expression and then stood a tentative step closer as Hank didn’t know if Boris wanted him close; Hank wanted to embrace Boris but felt that Boris was trying to come back to his new normal after having to have been so painfully formal for most of the day and thought he would let Boris take the initiative. 

Hank remembered at that moment that this was the hard, unreadable Boris he was when they first met and knowing now, how much energy it took for Boris to focus this level of being closed off to others, Hank wondered how Boris was able to maintain it. Hank also felt, as he looked at Boris’ face, that there must have been one hundred thoughts going on inside his husband’s mind. Boris’ eyes were steel grey and he looked very tired.

Just like on the very first day they had become companions, Boris formally asked Hank, in a quiet voice, “May I embrace you, Hank?”

Hank replied quietly, “Of course…always; you never need to ask.”

The two men embraced and Hank could feel Boris trembling slightly and wondered if Boris was cold. Boris closed his eyes and buried his nose in Hank’s hair; he took a deep breath and strengthened his grip on Hank. 

Boris didn’t move and held Hank firmly which meant that Hank couldn’t move even if he wanted to. Boris only tilted his head slightly because he heard someone walking down the hallway to the door of their suite. 

Hank’s snack and their coffee had arrived and Udo entered their suite quietly with the tray he had picked up from the service cart, walked into the dining area and set the tray down on the table. Udo kept his eyes averted, turned and walked quietly out of the suite and closed the door behind him.

“I want no more intrusions until our dinner,” Boris said in a whisper; he still had not moved from the embrace; Hank did not move as well.

Many silent moments passed and Boris’ trembling ceased. He shifted his embrace slightly, making it less firm and said, “I smell coffee.”

Hank smiled from where his head was on Boris’ shoulder and replied, “I asked Udo to bring us some.”

Boris pulled back slightly to look at Hank and smiled somewhat, “You are too good to me, Hank.”

Hank looked up at Boris with his bright blue eyes and with a comforting and charming smile, “Come on, let’s get a little more comfortable,” Hank said in a quiet but cheerful tone, as he reached up, loosened up Boris’ tie and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his dress shirt, “We should sit down and relax, okay?”

Never taking his eyes off of Hank, Boris nodded and did the same with Hank’s tie, unfastened his collar bar and also unbuttoned three buttons.

 

They sat on the couch for quite a while but didn’t yet talk about the day’s event; Hank waited, he knew the drill that Boris needed to think about it before he discussed it. They drank coffee and Hank enticed Boris to help him eat some of the antipasto snack that Udo had brought earlier. Boris leaned back against the corner of the couch when Hank got up to use the facilities and when Hank returned, Boris was asleep. Hank went to an armoire and found a blanket which he spread across Boris; Hank brushed some hair from Boris’ forehead with a gentle swipe of his fingers, bent to kiss Boris on the temple, turned off the lights in the lounge area and then stepped quietly into the bedroom and closed the door most of the way shut. Hank dialed Udo and told him that Boris was sleeping and they talked about plans for the next day.

“What an exhausting day this was, Udo, gees!” Hank said with energy but in a low voice as he didn’t want to wake Boris.

“Yes, Dr. Hank, it certainly was,” Udo said calmly.

“Um, thank you again, Udo, for translating; I’ve never been in a situation like that before,” Hank said with gratitude.

“You are welcome, Sir,” Udo replied, “What may I do for you and the Master at this moment?”

“Fast forward time to Paris…” Hank trailed off and he heard Udo chuckle, “I want to make plans for tomorrow. I really think we, I mean, he needs to rest the entire day. What is this formal dinner all about, do you know?”

“Think of what occurred at lunch time today, except add more formality and there may be other guests attending as well,” Udo suggested, “It is a good thing that you both brought your tuxedos.”

“Oh, that’s just great; other guests, like who?” Hank said with some exasperation.

“It could be other family members, or dignitaries with whom Sir Vasily is familiar with. Sir Stanislav may have invited some business associates as he has hinted to the Master in the past that others would do well to learn from the Master’s business expertise,” Udo stated.

“Oh, that’s right, Vasily’s the diplomat and Stanislav’s the banker; gees…” Hank trailed off again.

“Is something wrong, Sir?” Udo asked as he could tell that Hank’s tone of voice had become wary.

“I have a bad feeling about this dinner, Udo, and I sure hope that I am wrong,” Hank said slowly.

“Would you like to talk about your thoughts?” Udo asked.

“I’m going to say something very blunt; is the family fattening us up for the slaughter? I mean, are they being nice and then they are going to parade us around and humiliate us in the end?” Hank said with a troubled tone.

Udo was silent for a moment as he had not thought about that possibility and he wasn’t sure that the Master had either.

“Udo?” Hank asked and then looked at his phone to see if it had gone dead.

“Yes, Sir, I am here, I was thinking, my apologies for the delay in my response. I…had not thought about that scenario,” Udo said with concern. Now Udo was worried.

“I hope that I’m just being paranoid and over-reacting; oh man, am I tired,” Hank said as he ran his hand through his hair and smoothed his beard.

“We must be prepared for all possibilities, Sir. I will see if Khalil can ascertain anything from his end as to who any additional guests might be, and my next thought is that the contingency plans to immediately vacate the premises still are valid, so we are not, how do you say, ‘out on a limb’,” Udo replied confidently.

“This place is making me crazy, I am so worried about Boris right now, I’m not thinking straight,” Hank said, “He is holding a lot of stuff inside of him and you know what happens when he gets like that.

“Yes, I understand, Dr. Hank, about the Master; and no, you are just thinking for the benefit of our safety, that is also valid,” Udo said confidently.

A moment more of silence and then Hank said, “When’s dinner?”

Udo replied as he looked at his wrist watch, “It shall be delivered in… less than forty-five minutes, Sir.”

“Okay, I’m going to let Boris sleep for a little while longer and then I’ll wake him just before dinner gets delivered. He can have some time to refresh himself. Hey, I was thinking about that we might need to add on a day to this trip for all of us to recuperate from this…whatever this is…you know?” Hank said.

“Yes, I understand…may I make a suggestion?” Udo asked.

“Yeah, of course, what are you thinking about?” Hank said with curiosity.

“This is just a thought, Dr. Hank. This place here, and what is involved here, is draining your energies, and I am certain, affecting the Master’s health, if not your own, and not for the better. It is necessary to the overall plan of required family business, but not in the completely positive way that the Master, and you, would prefer it to be. There is too much…hmmm, shall we say history, and there too much that is unsaid and too much tenuous trust,” Udo then paused.

“I understand, go on,” Hank replied.

“I should like to suggest that we make arrangements to leave St. Petersburg immediately after the dinner, go straight to the airport and fly to Paris overnight and add that extra day of rest you speak of there, rather than here. It is only a three and a half hour flight. The dinner and visit will end possibly at one in the morning, we can leave directly from Monument House, and by the time we get to the airport, loaded up and all prepared to take off, it will be two, possibly three a.m. Leaving at that time will place us in Paris just in time for a very early breakfast at the hotel, which can be arranged beforehand, and then we can settle you both into your suite at The Ritz afterwards for two full days of rest,” Udo said, “And Sir, Paris is a much…friendlier city…”

Hank interrupted him, “Oh wow, Udo that is brilliant!” Hank probably said this too loud because at that moment, Boris called out Hank’s name from the lounge area, “I’m in here, Boris! I’m on the phone with Udo…hang on…” And Hank walked out of the bedroom and over to where Boris was; he stopped on the other side of the couch and laid his hand on Boris’ which was now on the back of the couch and they looked at each other.

“What is brilliant? Udo? Of course, he is brilliant. You are brilliant. I am surrounded by brilliance,” Boris said with all honesty as he stood up from the couch and stretched his arms, shoulders, and back.

Hank held up a pointer finger up asking for a moment, and then Hank said into his phone, “Let’s think about this some more, Udo. He and I will talk about it over dinner,” Hank said as he looked at Boris, smiled, and nodded his head enthusiastically, “Thanks, Udo!” Hank ended his call and continued to walk around the couch as Boris did the same and they embraced. Dr. Hank looked at Boris and said, “That short nap did you some good, you look a little better. Dinner is on its way and I’d like to ask that you try your best to eat…please?”

Boris smiled and nodded his head, he held Hank’s cheek with his right hand and kissed his forehead, then said, “It would appear that we have much to discuss during dinner, ja? I sense that you and Udo are plotting and planning something, and I thought that you might also wish to discuss today’s visit at length, huh?”

“Yes! That would be terrific, and you ARE going to eat, right?” Hank asked.

“Ja, Hank, I promise, I WILL eat my soup,” Boris said in earnest.

 

As they sat down to dinner, Boris raised his wine glass and Hank did the same. Boris said, “To…” And he stopped because he had three things he thought he might say, and because he was tired they arrived in his mind in three different languages, and they all converged on him at the same time.

Hank smiled at Boris’ expression of indecision – a rare event – and then said, “To checking things off of our ‘to do’ list.”

Boris tilted his head to contemplate this curious sentence and then smiled when it clicked in his mind and touched in his glass to Hank’s. Hank had once referred to the reconnecting with the Rateniczes as something on their checklist of things to do together, however strange that may have originally sounded to Boris.

They began to eat and after a few moments of nodding in agreement that they both liked their dinners, Hank asked, “Are you happy with the way the visit went today?”

“Ja, I am pleased that we all became…friendly. And I must say, Hank, that they warmed up to you quickly after you stood your ground. I was especially amused by their expressions when you said that the details that they asked for were none of their business,” Boris replied with a sly grin.

“What expressions? I didn’t see anything but harsh faces looking at me and expecting me to answer a question that I didn’t want to answer,” Hank said honestly.

“Oh, there were expressions; as you get to know them, you will see the subtleties. They were quite charmed by you by the end of the visit. You handled yourself magnificently, my beloved One, I know you were apprehensive, but that did not show at all; and I know that you worried about that aspect,” Boris said.

They continued to eat and Hank asked Boris questions about his two uncles and his aunt. Hank had observed things that he wanted to better understand.

“I think that they are proud of you, Boris,” Hank said as he finished his wine.

“I suppose so. They have always been the…hmmm...the kindest to me out of all of my family members, er, kind in a Russian way; they have mellowed quite a bit over the years. Even Stanislav, who is the most critical one,” Boris admitted.

“Yeah, he’s interesting, what a Grumpy Gus; all he talks about is how things are business,” Hank said lightly.

“You have no idea, Hank. Mark my words, during the dinner tomorrow evening, he will ask us about our wedding rings,” Boris stated.

Hank asked, “Why?”

“I saw him eyeing the jewelry and since they are gold with diamonds, and that means money, he is always interested in anything which relates to money,” Boris offered.

“Gotcha, and don’t worry, I won’t say anything about the mine,” Hank said proudly.

“I have complete faith that you will be discreet, my love,” Boris said with quiet confidence.

“How are you feeling right now, Boris? I am really happy that you ate all of your soup,” Hank said with a smile.

“I am weary, it has been a long and challenging day. Ja, this vegetable soup was very good; it is apparent that you enjoyed your dinner,” Boris replied as he looked at Hank’s cleaned plate.

“The steak was awesome,” Hank stated happily as he put his napkin on the table. “Come on, let’s go sit in front of the fireplace and have our dessert. I really want to talk about the plans that Udo and I were talking about earlier.”

As they carried the coffee and dessert of Russian Napoleon Cake to the couch in the lounge area and sat down, Boris said, “Ja, now what are these secret plans that the two of you have ‘cooked up’?” Boris looked pleased that he had used a Hank-type of phrase. 

Hank said, “Well, first of all, we, and I specifically mean YOU, need to get a good night’s sleep tonight. I know that today took a lot out of you, because I’m beat, too. Tomorrow, I would like for us to stay in and rest for the entire day because the formal dinner is very late and Udo said it would also run very late.”

“Well, I agree about a good night’s sleep, but I had other ideas about the day tomorrow,” Boris said.

“I’m sure you did, but hear me out. This trip, the whole trip, has been so remarkable and…” Hank paused a moment to gather his thoughts and then he continued, “And, I am concerned about the toll it is taking on you. Too many extremes; I knew this would happen and I know this was all necessary, but gees, Boris, after we left Monument House, you were so hollow and drained. I got a little scared, okay, there! I said it!”

Hank went on, “So, as I was talking to Udo, and some other thoughts came into my head, which are probably nonsense but I’m tired and hyper-sensitive to stuff right now.”

Boris took a bite of his cake and nodded. He gave Hank his full attention; he could tell that Hank was upset and wanted to be supportive in any way that he could manage at the moment, which he felt wasn’t much considering how exhausted he was, but Boris was willing to give it all to Hank and deal with his own needs later.

“I am worried that the dinner is going to be more taxing on, well, us, because I don’t trust your Elders completely yet. Udo said that other people might attend the formal dinner, I guess that happens at formal dinners in your family,” Hank said.

Boris nodded his head and said, “Ja; that is a possibility.”

Hank sighed deeply and said, “Okay, I’m just going to repeat what I said to Udo.”

“Please do,” Boris offered.

“My worry is that I wonder if the family is fattening us up for the slaughter. Are they being polite to us now just to get our guard down so that they can demean us later, maybe during the dinner in front of other people? I’m sorry, Boris, as I told Udo, this place is making me a little crazy and I’m probably over-reacting,” Hank said with frustration and took a few almost furious bites of his cake.

Boris put his cake plate, with still half of the piece of cake on it and the fork resting on it, down on the coffee table; he took a sip of his coffee and then said, “What you suggest is possible, however, I sensed sincerity from my Elders today; so I would like to think your scenario is improbable. It is, however, always prudent to be prepared.”

Hank finished his cake and said, “Yeah, Udo said that our current ‘escape’ plan would be valid and could be used in any situation. So, that thought made me feel a little better, you know, if we are being insulted, we don’t have to take any crap and just leave. But anyway, going back to resting up…I was going to suggest that we rest all day tomorrow and then add a day to rest up after this formal thing, and then Udo made a suggestion which I thought was…”

“Brilliant,” Boris interrupted and was intrigued.

“Yes, it is actually. This situation and this place here is so amazing, and not all in a good way. The vibe in this city is weirding me out. I agree with Udo, Boris, it’s kinda sucking the life out of us. Of course, Udo said it more politely than I just did right now. Anyway, Udo suggested that instead of us taking a day of rest here in St. Petersburg…” Hank paused and became a little nervous as he didn’t know how Boris would react.

Boris nodded slowly and took another sip of his coffee.

“And, that we leave immediately after the dinner, I mean the luggage could already be in the cars, our teams are all ready to leave right directly from Monument House to the airport, and we fly overnight and add the day of rest in Paris instead. Udo said he can have our breakfast ready for us when we arrive. Even though I’ve never been to Paris, I can guess that the energy in Paris is a lot more positive than what it is here,” Hank said with enthusiasm.

Boris looked at the fire for a moment and gathered his thoughts before he looked at Hank with a fond expression and a smile then formed on his lips. Boris’ plan for the next day had been that he had wanted to take Hank to, at least, the museum he had enjoyed alone as a child, and perhaps one other historical site such as one of the palaces or the fortress. 

But in that moment Boris remembered that he said to Hank that St. Petersburg was a place of HIS past and that THEY didn’t really belong here. He asked himself silently, ‘Why should we stay here any longer than absolutely necessary? I do not need to subject Hank to my past; we are building our future together.’ 

Boris remembered that Hank had firmly expressed that he didn’t feel like he belonged here and Boris became honest with himself and allowed the same thought to surface from where he had buried it in his mind. They belonged where they would be happy, and Paris was a wonderful place, like home at Shadow Pond, to be happy in.

“You are correct, Hank, Paris is more positive, as you say, than here. And I think this idea of Udo’s is indeed brilliant. I wanted to take you places tomorrow however, now I feel that I must change my thoughts on this…I agree with you, and Udo. We should rest, prepare and pack tomorrow; then leave immediately after dinner. Hmmm…I have not left in the middle of the night like this since when I was in Thailand during the Red Shirts protests. Ah, in any, case, we will not tell my Elders of our plans. As you and I rest tomorrow, Udo, Khalil, and Captain Frank can make all of the adjusted arrangements. Ja, this…is brilliant,” Boris started to look enlivened as he said these thoughts out loud.

“Uh, okay; you’re going to have tell me about that event in Thailand – that sounds, interesting,” Hank paused as he tried to wrap his head around that one and then continued, “Should I call Udo now so he can get things going?” Hank asked eagerly as he felt happier now that Boris had agreed to this new, and in his eyes, much better plan.

“Please do,” Boris said as he started to think about Paris.

 

~~~

 

Hank awoke first when he smelled the coffee the next morning; which was unusual as Boris was the one who seemed to be hard-wired into almost anything related to coffee. He could still feel Boris next to him on the bed and moved slightly to see him and the small antique clock which was on the nightstand. It was only seven a.m. and the light of dawn was just beginning to filter into the room. They had closed the bedroom door to just a crack so that Udo could have full access to the rest of the suite and still maintain their privacy. Boris was asleep and as he looked at him, Dr. Hank thought that Boris looked tired even while he was sleeping and Hank wondered why.

After dessert and discussion with Udo on the change of plans, they went to bed. There is such a thing as being overly tired and that was what Boris was during the night. It took him hours to fall asleep and when he did, his sleep was fitful and he couldn’t get comfortable. He tried to not bother Hank and even went to the couch at two in the morning with the thought that a change in position would help. By the time Boris actually fell asleep back in their bed, it was four a.m.

Hank had been so tired that he fell asleep almost immediately and slept soundly all though the night and so Hank did not know about what Boris experienced. 

Hank kissed Boris’ forehead and said softly, “Good morning, Boris, I think I smell coffee.”

Boris sighed, but didn’t open his eyes and he said quietly, “Good morning, my beloved One, please help yourself to the coffee; I shall have some later.”

“What’s the matter, something is wrong when you don’t want coffee,” Hank asked with concern and placed his hand on Boris’ forehead and then his shoulder.

“Oh, ja, well, I did not sleep well last night; and I would like to lie here for a while, if that agreeable to you,” Boris said.

“Did you get any sleep?” Hank asked and now knew why Boris looked the way he did.

“What is the time now?” Boris asked as he wasn’t about to move a muscle to look at the clock himself; he still kept his eyes closed and the left side of his face pressed into the pillow.

“It’s a little after seven,” Hank said.

After Boris made a sound with his lips that expressed - without words - exhaustion, defeat, and sadness, he said, “Three hours only, I have slept…I do not feel very well.”

“I can imagine that you don’t; I’ll leave you alone, you just try and fall back to sleep. I’ll be in the other room, and I’ll leave the door open a little bit, so just call out if you need something,” Hank said gently.

“Is it normal for my stomach to be upset, too?” Boris asked in a hushed voice.

“Could be; you’re under a lot of stress and that can manifest itself into a lot of physical ailments,” Hank said as he started to sit up.

With his eyes closed and he still did not move, Boris said, “Please Hank, only tell Udo that I am sleeping; he will worry more if he knows more. I do not wish for him to worry at this time.”

Hank said, “Sure, it’s okay, you try and sleep now,” and then Hank leaned over and kissed Boris gently on his right temple, got out of bed, donned his robe and slippers and walked quietly out of the bedroom closing the door to just be open two inches.

 

By lunchtime, Udo, Khalil and Captain Frank had made all of the necessary re-arrangements to the new plan. Austria would be released from duty once the entourage was safety in the air and they would return to their base of operations later that day. Jacob had been assigned to protect Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine and during the late afternoon, one of the Austria team members drove the three of them to the airport to prepare the plane and wait for the entourage for the night flight to Paris. Khalil was not able to determine if more guests were on the invite list for the formal dinner, and Khalil was not happy about that at all.

Boris slept through breakfast; and he only shifted his position on the bed once during the entire morning. 

Hank came into the bedroom to check on Boris three times throughout the morning, and then, somewhat satisfied that Boris was fine, Hank went and washed up and then changed into a shirt which he left un-tucked and trousers with no belt and he walked around the suite barefooted. They weren’t going anywhere so Hank was feeling ‘super casual’ as he explained it to Udo when Udo looked at him ‘kinda funny’ (both Hank’s phraseology) and asked if he had misplaced his belt.

When lunch was brought in and set up, Hank decided to wake Boris up because there was water to be drank, meds to be taken and food to be eaten (especially by Boris).

Boris was still asleep and was lying on his back, his right hand flat across his belly on top of the blanket and his left hand straight down by his side and his chin was up and he breathed steadily. Hank knelt on the floor next to the bed, leaned over and kissed Boris on the right side of his neck and under his ear. Boris sighed deeply and smiled slightly and said calmly, “Good morning, Hank,” as he turned his head to look at Hank.

Hank straightened up from his kneeling position to stand, looked down at Boris with his hands on his hips, smiled and slowly said, “Good…after…noon…Boris.”

“Huh?” Boris said as his eyebrows knitted together.

“Yeah, it’s after…noon now, and I’d really like for you to get up and join me for lunch and take your medicine,” Hank said pleasantly.

“Ah, ja, all right, Dr. Hank, I understand,” Boris said as he sat up, moved the covers aside and looked up at Hank and around the bedroom.

Hank ran his hands through Boris’ hair to tame it and Boris closed his eyes as he enjoyed Hank’s treatment. Then, Boris reached out and grabbed Hank and pulled him to fall and lie down across the bed next to him and Boris embraced him; Boris kissed Hank on the cheek.

Hank embraced him back but for only a moment and then pushed Boris away with both hands on his chest and got back up to a standing position, leaving Boris lying on the bed with his hands now laced behind his head and smiling as he looked up at Hank.

“We’re not in Paris yet,” Hank scolded with a teasing tone to his voice.

“We could pretend…” Boris said mischievously.

“No, save your energy for tonight and when we get to Paris, you can do anything you want to me,” Hank teased.

“Anything?” Boris said in his silky voice.

“Uh, only with my permission,” Hank responded firmly.

Boris swore in Mandarin and called Hank a ‘crazy silly monkey’.

“What was that?” Hank asked with a playful yet scolding tone, “Gees, someone’s feeling better.”

“Ah, nothing…” Boris trailed off and sat up, “What is for lunch?”

“Roasted Chicken, Saffron rice with Toasted Almonds and Steamed Vegetables with Lemon,” Hank announced.

“Very good, I shall join you shortly,” Boris said as he stood up.

Hank then held Boris’ jaw with both hands and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Hank ended the kiss quickly and stepped back two paces and said, “That’s to keep my account active until the real fun and games begin!” Hank turned and walked out of the bedroom, happy that Boris seemed to be a lot better now. 

Boris chuckled to himself as he walked to the bath room.

A few minutes later, Boris entered the dining area wearing his robe over his pajamas and had his slippers on his feet; he had brushed his hair and his teeth, but had not shaved.

“I know you!” Hank said cheerfully and motioned for Boris to sit down at the table. 

Boris took a moment to look around the room, as he usually did before he sat down almost anywhere and surveyed lunch. He nodded his approval and even saw a tiny bowl next to his place setting which held his medications and vitamins.

 

As they prepared themselves and got dressed, they talked about the formal dinner and the details of the trip to Paris. They made one last check in the mirror to make sure that they looked perfect.

Boris wore his charcoal tuxedo with the Nehru-style collar (Hank’s favorite) and a black shirt with ruby button covers. Hank wore his black, single-breasted, satin shawl collared tuxedo with an ivory shirt and a royal blue diamond point bow tie which matched his indigo sapphire button covers.

Boris said, “You like quite the dapper international man, Hank.”

Hank replied, “Thank you, and you look very…exotic and uh, princely…I just love seeing that tux on you.”

 

Now they were back at Monument House and the formalness of the dinner nearly overwhelmed Hank. He thought that the dining table looked stunning as practically everything either had a gold rim or a gold design on it, but he couldn’t help but feel that this was just too much. Hank recalled the formal dinners that Boris (and he) held at Shadow Pond and felt a fondness toward the understated elegance that was the norm there; somehow, the way that Boris arranged their formal dinners to be expertly blended sophistication and a quiet luxury. 

Boris politely asked Khalil to modify the shadowing plan during the dinner; Boris knew that Khalil would be upset with his request. When Boris saw that there were ten other guests at the dinner, and noticed a glance by Vasily in the direction of Khalil’s team, Boris felt that it would be improper for them to have such a extra show of force, as compared to the individual butlers who attended their masters during the dinner. An equal show of strength was diplomatic, appropriate, and savvy.

Boris took Khalil aside at the last moment as they entered the dining room and said, “Please have your team wait outside of the dining room and only you and Udo inside with us.”

Khalil looked around, looked at Boris, understood, nodded and directed the team according with a subtle clipped hand signals. Then he and Udo took their places discreetly nearby to Hank and Boris and they mirrored the distance of the other butlers. 

Vasily and Boris exchanged glances after this and Vasily nodded his head in approval. Vasily thought proudly to himself, “My nephew is an impressive young man.”

Vasily had invited two of his peers from the embassy, one came alone and one came with his wife. Stanislav invited two of his business partners and they each brought their wives. Marta had invited two lady friends of hers and one of them brought her husband.

French Champagne and introductions were the first order of the evening’s business and since most of the other guests didn’t understand English, Marta actually asked Boris if conversation could be held in Russian. Boris asked Hank if this was all right with him, to which Hank’ wholeheartedly agreed (he wanted to show that he could be polite) and smiled widely to show his graciousness. Marta enjoyed watching the two of them communicate with each other. Udo was back at Hank’s side to translate.

Live music was played by a string quartet with two violins, a viola, and a cello plus an additional person who played the harp. Boris picked up on the music that they played during the evening was by Nikolai Sokolov, who had lived in St. Petersburg during the late 1800’s and was a teacher of Dmitry Shostakovich (Dima’s favorite composer). 

The dinner became a splendid affair and Hank began to feel that his worries were now unfounded. He continually watched Boris’, Udo’s, and Khalil’s expressions and was alert and ready whenever another guest spoke with him. Hank stayed at Boris’ right side the entire night and had Udo at his right side translating. It was obvious that he and Boris were on display, however, it was not in a bad way as the other guests were quite cordial to them both – even politely curious, and everyone became more relaxed and friendlier as the evening wore on. Hank knew now, by their actions and speech, that Boris’ Elders were very proud of Boris.

Boris, too, had begun to let down his guard somewhat during evening as it appeared that the he and Hank were now truly welcomed into the Ratenicz family and were accepted for what they were. Boris couldn’t help but retain disbelief and wariness over this as he had been drawn in and tricked before on other different occasions, but then he had to remind himself that those memories came from the other factions of his family and not this one; this side of the family had other issues. 

 

During the evening, Hank motioned for Boris to step aside for a moment so that they could talk privately, and Hank asked, “How are you doing? Are you okay?”

Boris nodded his head, “Ja, I am fine; I must ask you Hank, do you feel welcomed?”

“Yeah, I do and it’s kinda scary to me. Do you feel welcomed?” Hank admitted.

“Ja, me too. I am not accustomed to this and I am not certain what to do about it,” Boris also admitted.

They smiled at each other and rejoined the gathering.

 

At one point in the evening, one of Vasily’s guests, Maksym, who had come alone to the dinner, engaged the two them in conversation alone, and shared with them that he had a close ‘friend’ whom he knew would have been very pleased to meet Boris and Hank. In a moment of extended trust, Maksym admitted quietly to them that he and his friend were pleasantly envious, and inspired, of what Boris and Hank ‘shared’ and further admitted to their dreams of giving up the homeland and going somewhere ‘more accepting’ (Maksym’s words). Boris and Hank wished Maksym the best of luck and Hank suggested that they not wait, because life is too short to wait too long. 

 

Vasily said, privately in English, to both Boris and Hank, “These are good connections to make, young men; good politics, good networking, as Americans say, yes?”

 

Later, Stanislav came over to them and asked to see their rings, “I have a fascination for gems and metals and noticed your rings yesterday. Aaah, these are splendid, they are custom made, yes?”

Boris replied, “Ja, we have a jeweler in New York who is quite talented.”

“Where do the diamonds come from?” Stanislav asked Hank directly.

“South Africa,” Hank replied.

“Ah, good, one can get the best quality stones from there, good choice. If you ever need a connection there for any future jewelry, I have one that I can share with you. He is in Johannesburg, you know on the east side, which is not as upscale as the Cape Town area, but he does good business,” Stanislav offered.

“Thank you, Uncle, we shall keep that in mind,” Boris replied as he looked at Hank with a slight smile.

 

After dinner, dessert, and multiple toasts which lasted through several glasses of vodka, the other guests thanked their hosts for a delightful evening and expressed their pleasure at having been given the opportunity to meet Boris and Hank. Boris’ Elders now openly showed great pride over their nephew and his husband, - and toasted to them - and even went so far as to call Boris, ‘Our Favorite Nephew’, and they called Hank, ‘Our Nephew Dr. Hank’.

After the guests had left, Marta asked that they all sit and visit “...for a just a little while longer...” and had the staff bring them a coffee service along with some delicate Russian Pastila, a fruit confectionary tea cookie. They were escorted to the Drawing Room and were seated in front of the fireplace once again. Stanislav had walked his guests to the foyer and became engaged in a business discussion which kept him there for many minutes and he didn’t rejoin them in the Drawing Room.

Hank looked at Boris, pointed to the tray, and said, “Cookies.”

Boris had to turn his head away because an accidental smile broke out on his face and he didn’t want his Elders to see it full on.

Vasily waved his hand in their direction, as he noticed Boris’ smile, and asked, “What is this? A private joke? Dr. Hank, how did you just make the phlegmatic Boris act like this? This is amazing! Marta! Do you see this?”

Hank had never seen Boris’ cheeks turn that color before and he laughed.

Marta had just sat down and replied, “Yes! Oh, goodness! This is very amusing! All Dr. Hank said was the word ‘cookies’. There is a story here somewhere, yes? Please share this with us!”

Hank finally stopped laughing and caught his breath; Boris looked at him with half-strength ‘laser beam’ eyes but with still some of the smile, so Hank knew that he only in a little bit of trouble.

Boris composed himself, took a deep breath, and replied as he met the now eager and curious gazes of Vasily and Marta, “One of Hank’s favorite foods are cookies, and...” Boris stopped because he wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. The pressures of the trip, the unusual affections given by his Elders, and Hank’s sudden silliness all collided inside Boris and he didn’t know what to say next.

“And…” Hank proudly finished Boris’ sentence, “Sometimes, I make a really big deal over how much I like cookies, and I’m pretty funny when I do that. Our Chef at home makes really good cookies.”

Vasily and Marta both said, “Aaah,” Simultaneously and with understanding.

Boris said, “Quite.”

“Do you hear this, Marta, they now finish each other sentences and they have only been married nearly a year. This is extra special, yes?” Vasily asked this with a pleasant tone to his voice.

“My brother, you are just NOW deciding that these young men are extra special? You are so slow,” Marta stated as she waved over a staff member to serve them, “Let us not wait for Stanu, he is talking to Mily and you know how long those business discussions last.”

They continued to enjoy the coffee and cookies and Marta looked over at Mikhail and nodded. He walked over with two red velvet boxes, one in each hand, and gave Boris and Hank each one of the boxes, bowed and then stepped back.

“Aunt Marta? What is this?” Boris asked politely as he looked at her with a serious but respectful expression; then he looked at Vasily in the same way.

Boris and Hank held the boxes carefully, looked at each other and then back at Marta and Vasily.

“We have decided…” Marta smiled, and then looked at Vasily and he nodded, “That we wanted to give you both something to remember this visit by. Something to remember us by; these are from the family vault and speak to our family’s heritage and from the time of the Tsars. Please, open the gifts.”

Boris and Hank looked at each other again and then carefully opened the boxes – even the boxes were antique. Inside each box, was a pair of cufflinks and a matching stick pin in elaborate gold settings. Boris held the box which had an emerald and diamond set and Hank held the box that had a ruby and diamond set.

Hank said, “Wow, thank you.”

Boris said, “This is surely too generous.”

Vasily, pleased at seeing their surprised expressions, replied, “Well, Marta, I think they like the sets, you were right.”

“The next time we see you both, we should like to see you wearing these sets, please,” Marta said sweetly.

Hank said, “Of course!”

Boris said, “It would be our pleasure.”

 

At two a.m., Boris asked that they might be allowed to take their leave and both men respectfully thanked Boris’ Elders. They said their goodbyes as they were assisted with their coats by the housemen and all of them promised to stay connected. Vasily asked to see Boris’ cane, which Boris handed to him; Vasily openly admired the cane, Boris told him the story about it, and then Vasily handed it back to Boris and nodded his approval and said he should have one custom made for himself.

In a final moment, Marta stepped over to Boris, held both of his upper arms, looked up at him and smiled, “You have become a fine man, Boris; I always knew you would be this way even though I did not show it. I have always had faith in you that you would do the right things at the right times, and you always have...your Lady Mother would be proud of you.”

Boris stood like a stone at those words; he smiled a genuine smile down at his Lady Aunt Marta and said quietly, “I shall endeavor to never disappoint you; thank you, Lady Aunt.”

Then, in a moment of affection, she hugged Boris. He hesitated as he was unaccustomed to this outward show of affection from any family member and then hugged her back. Boris’ expression was one of guarded shock and pride.

As they separated, Stanislav walked into the foyer and saw them release one another; he said, “Sister, you are always too soft on the boy! Good luck in your business, Nephew Boris.

Boris bowed formally to Stanislav and said, “And I wish you luck also in your business, Sir Uncle.”

Boris turned then to Vasily, bowed formally and said, “Thank you, Sir Uncle, for everything. I greatly appreciate the reconnection to the family.”

Vasily smiled and held out his hand to shake Boris’ hand, which was something he had never done before. Boris hesitated again and then shook his uncle’s hand with his typical firm grip.

Stanislav nodded firmly once at Boris with a slight smile.

Marta then turned to Hank and she grasped his arms and looked into his eyes, “I am so happy to meet you, Dr. Hank. You are a remarkable young man and I am glad to know you now. My Nephew will always take good care of you, I hope you know this. He is an honorable man and will always be your devoted husband; and I know that you two belong together. Come back and see us again, yes?” Then she hugged Hank firmly.

Hank smiled, hugged her back and replied, “Yes, Ma’am! Thank you very much, for everything.”

They released each other and then Hank turned towards Vasily and Stanislav, bowed formally to both of them and said, “Thank you, Sirs, for your hospitality and kindness,” Hank smiled widely. Vasily then, reached out to shake Hank’s hand as he had with Boris.

And once more, Stanislav nodded now to Hank.

Boris and Hank turned towards the door and walked forward and out of the house followed by Udo and Khalil. The rest of the team was all standing outside of the vehicles as they waited. Before Boris and Hank climbed into their vehicle, they both looked up at the three Elders who stood at the top of the steps. It was cold and Marta pulled the thin wrap around her shoulders a little tighter.

Two large lamps attached to the house on either side of the entry door cast a bright yellow light upon them, the door way, the steps and the drive which included their vehicle, but beyond that, the two-in-the-morning darkness seemed to swallow everything else. 

Vasily and Stanislav nodded, Marta waved to them. Hank waved back and Boris held up a hand, his long fingers pointed upward and nodded.

The team members got into the other four vehicles and entourage drove slowly around the fountain and then down the long drive to the gates.

As Aunt Marta turned back to enter the house, she said in Russian, “I will miss them; do you think that we waited too long to make amends with Boris? I hope they come back to visit again soon.”

Both of Boris’ uncles nodded their heads, and Vasily said in Russian, “Yes, but they are both fine men. We saw Boris smile. What a gift. Perhaps he has forgiven us; I believe he has, but just in case, let us hope for that.”

Stanislav looked worried and said, “Our Nephew smiled? When? I missed that. I am such a foolish old man, I put business in front of family; I shall probably never see that happen again now.”


	24. Romance, Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There IS love in Paris...

The jet touched down at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 6:30 a.m. The sun had just shown itself and there was not a cloud in the sky. The air was cool and fresh.

The flight over from St. Petersburg was smooth and it was quiet inside both cabins of the plane. Everyone was tired and two of the passengers had a lot to think about. Udo made coffee for everyone which they sipped on during the short flight.

 

Hank watched Boris as he sipped on his coffee. Boris was quiet and didn’t move in or from his seat; in fact, his only movement was when he brought his cup up to his lips to drink and then replace the cup back on the saucer as he stared into the darkness out of the cabin window next to him. Hank had nervous energy and wanted to pace but he thought that would unnerve Boris further, and that he would look stupid doing that inside of the plane, so Hank just sat and looked out of the window from time to time as the lights on the ground below moved under them. Hank wished that he hadn’t packed his iPod in their luggage.

 

The Ritz Hotel Paris General Manager stood formally in the lobby as he waited for them to exit their vehicles which had pulled up in front of the building. He escorted the two men and Udo through the hotel to a corner of the L’Espadon dining room which was their reserved table. Khalil and Yussef followed and placed themselves discreetly as two hotel servers prepared to serve them their breakfast; Udo went to speak with Khalil.

“I want to make sure all of our details are in place for this stay; please excuse me a moment, Khalil,” Udo said.

Khalil nodded at both Udo and the General Manager and watched them walk away. Khalil was pleased that all had gone well and that there had been no problems. He looked forward to knowing the two Masters would be settled into their suite and the rest of the team settled into the three of their suites soon. Khalil was tired and knew the team was as well; he knew that was not a good thing – it interfered with staying alert. He told the team that he would take the first watch. After four hours, one of them would relieve him so that he could get some sleep. The plan during the day was that everyone would rest in their suites. Khalil felt that since this trip was only known by them, they might not have to be on high alert and wrestled with himself over loosening up the guard; in the end, Khalil went with his gut and only relaxed the guard process by one third.

 

Breakfast was light and refreshing (poached eggs, a triple cream cheese with mushrooms, fresh sliced melon, thick-sliced bacon for Hank, and large croissants glazed with orange marmalade) and Boris actually ate most of his meal. For a while, the two men were the only ones in the dining room and they sat there (still dressed) in their tuxedos and looked very sophisticated in the elegant setting surrounded by tall windows, potted trees, crystal, china, white linens and formally-attired service staff. Boris commented that the ‘formal’ breakfast they were having was pleasantly unique and Hank suggested to Boris that he not get any big ideas for them to start wearing tuxes at home during breakfast.

“Look what I have here, Hank,” Boris said with a small smile as pulled out his gold and multi-colored Chinese cloisonné pill box from his tuxedo jacket pocket, “I have brought my medications and supplements to take with my breakfast.”

Hank smiled at Boris and said, “I am so proud of you right now.”

 

An hour and a half later, Boris and Hank were escorted by the hotel bell captain, and were followed by Udo, Khalil, and Yussef, to the Suite Mansart on the 6th floor of the hotel which was the only suite to have a private roof top terrace that allowed a 360 degree view of the entire city. The remainder of the team, including Frank and Catherine, were all settled into three Suite Operas which were also on the 6th floor; those suites were large but did not have balconies.

Udo looked over at Boris and Hank, and asked, “Would you like me to unpack your things now, Sirs?”

Hank also looked over at Boris (who looked out of a window curiously, not contemplatively, and held the sheer curtain to the side with an elegant hand as he did so), and said, “No, I think we’ll take care of that ourselves in a little while. We need some sleep and so do you. Get some rest and we’ll call you if we need anything okay? Thanks so much, Udo,” Hank thought that he had never seen Udo so weary-looking.

“Very good, Dr. Hank,” Udo said pleasantly and bowed to them; Udo left the suite and made sure the doors were secure. 

Finally alone, and after a few moments, Boris looked back into the room, released the sheers and then walked over to where Hank had gone into the bedroom. Hank was bent over one of their now opened suit cases which had been placed on an ornate bench near a wall of the bedroom. Boris tapped Hank on the shoulder. Hank straightened, turned and looked up at Boris who smiled and gazed at him calmly. Boris caressed Hank’s bearded cheek and then gently untied Hank’s bow tie; Boris tilted his head one way and then the other in satisfaction as he unbuttoned the top two buttons of Hank’s dress shirt and pulled off the button covers and held them in his hand. He would look into Hank’s eyes and then back to a button.

Hank thought that Boris looked tired but because he also appeared calm, Hank felt at ease, and when Boris had finished, Hank removed Boris’ button covers and unbuttoned the two top buttons of his dress shirt. They placed their suit jewelry and Hank’s bow tie on the side table and helped each other out of their tuxedo suit jackets which they draped across the back of a chair.

Neither man spoke; Boris motioned for Hank to sit on the chair and then he knelt down to remove Hank’s shoes. Boris massaged Hank’s feet gently even with his socks on and looked up at Hank with a slight smile. While he knelt, Boris removed his own shoes and placed both pairs neatly under the bench. Boris sat back on his heels and looked up at Hank again with his hands on Hank’s thighs and sighed slightly. 

They calmly looked at each and smiled in that all-knowing way of theirs. Hank looked over at the bed and then back to Boris who nodded.

They both stood up, Boris went to the bed and arranged the covers and pillows for them to sleep upon; Hank closed the door to their bedroom. They both undressed and draped their clothes neatly across an armless settee which was the foot of the bed and climbed in together and brought the crisp white cover sheet and soft woven blankets up comfortably across their naked bodies.

The two men closed their eyes, and Hank’s head was on Boris’ shoulder, their arms were wrapped around one another; Hank’s left leg was between Boris’ legs and Boris’ left leg was between Hank’s legs.

Hank turned his head to ask Boris if he was warm enough or if he needed his pajamas, but saw that Boris had already fallen asleep.

 

It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon when Hank took a deep breath and thought he smelled coffee. He was on his left side, curled up slightly on the bed and as he turned onto his back to look at where he was, Boris walked into the bedroom, wearing only a loosely knotted hotel robe, his hair a wild mess, and he carried two cups of coffee. He closed the door with one foot while he balanced himself (and held one coffee cup in each hand) as he stood on the other foot.

Udo had brought in a coffee service a short while before and Boris had just moments ago awakened to one of his favorite scents and had to seek out where it was. Boris was so intent on finding the coffee that he almost walked out in the main part of the suite naked, thought better of it, then walked quickly to the en suite bathroom and found a robe to put on first.

Boris smiled when he saw Hank awake and placed the two cups on the side table and then crawled onto the bed which forced his robe to open and that provided Hank with a wonderful view of Boris’ chest, abdomen and lower – in that order. Boris stopped in his movement and was above Hank on his hands and knees and looked down at himself to see what Hank was looking at. Boris said, “Huh.”

They looked at each other and smiled widely.

Boris lowered himself fully and firmly down onto Hank and nuzzled his neck with his hands in Hank’s hair, he asked Hank in a silky deep voice, “Coffee or me? Choose wisely, Hank...remember what happened the last time you chose the sandwich.”

Hank felt Boris’ hardness against his own even through the bed sheet and blankets and said cheerfully, “I choose you, but there’s stuff in the way.”

In movements which were quick and efficient, Boris removed the hotel robe from his body and was under the blankets and on top on Hank once again, “Hmmm, you are so wise for someone so young,” Boris said from where his face was against Hank’s hair and held Hank’s left earlobe gently between his teeth; Boris moved his hips and everything else in that area of his body into a very comfortable position and pushed against Hank.

Hank groaned with delight and held onto Boris tightly.

 

After many moments of pleasure, Boris, who was still breathing heavily from that pleasure, moved slightly aside, but not completely off of Hank to reach over and grasp a coffee cup for a sip, when Hank turned and then pulled him back before he was able to do so and rolled him over.

“Oh no, get back here, Tree; you’re not getting away that easily,” Hank said as he started to kiss Boris at his neck and moved his hands downward along Boris’ flat abdomen and lower.

“But, I am thirsty and I would have shared it with you…ohhh, I adore it when you do that,” Boris said innocently and then moaned deeply.

Hank sighed deeply because what he did to Boris felt very good to him, too; “Just wait, you still owe me for the kiss in the restaurant….”

 

They finally had caught their breath and sat back against the pillows which were now propped against the headboard, the blankets pulled up to their waists as they sipped on their now very cold cups of coffee.

Hank said, “This is so good, even cold.”

Boris replied, “The French know how to make good coffee.”

“Do you want some more?” Hank asked because he saw Boris’ cup was nearly empty.

“Ja, I will get it for us…” Boris started to say and began to move to get out of bed.

“Nope, you brought the first round, it’s my turn. Stay here and I’ll be right back,” Hank said cheerfully, handed his cup to Boris and climbed out of bed.

Boris finished his cup, placed both cups on the side table and took great pleasure of watching Hank move across the bed naked, grab the robe Boris had worn and put it on. He made a murmuring sound with his lips. Hank looked at him curiously, and Boris offered, “Forgive me, my beloved One, I happen to enjoy watching you move about when you are unclothed.”

Hank waved a hand at Boris, then partially opened the bedroom door and walked out in to the main living area to survey the coffee service. “Oh, hi, Udo!” Hank said cheerfully a moment later as he tied the belt of the robe tighter around his trim waist.

Boris sighed slightly as he heard them talk; Boris knew that they needed their staff; however, he just wished that there would be some days when it really was only just he and Hank; he believed they were clever men and he was certain that they could survive on their own, at least for a day. His finely-tuned hearing allowed him to hear that they set up a snack to be brought to them in less than an hour and dinner was to be brought in-suite later that evening, as well as the arrangement of an after-dinner excursion to the Eiffel Tower. 

Boris smiled as he thought his plan to kiss Hank in public when they were at the iconic landmark. 

Boris listened further as Udo told Hank that it had actually warmed up outside and that it was very pleasant out on the private terrace. Udo suggested that they take their coffee and snack there for maximum enjoyment in the bright spring sunshine. Udo and Hank were quiet for a moment and Boris heard their footsteps move away from where they had stood in the living area of the suite. Boris thought about some other type of maximum enjoyment with Hank and his body agreed with him. He waited for Hank and looked around the bedroom and found the blue and cream color scheme quite enjoyable and soothing.

Hank poked his head into the bedroom, held onto the door with one hand, and said happily, “You know, Boris, it’s really nice outside on the terrace right now. Let’s take our coffee and the snack that’s coming soon out there, the sunshine will be good for us.”

Boris looked at Hank’s happy face and thought about a risqué definition of one of the words Hank had just said and it involved them being in bed doing nice things to one another and not going outside to eat a snack. Then in the next moment, Boris’ expression changed because he had a very mischievous thought of combining those two events. He looked at Hank and replied, “Only if there is more of this…” And Boris fluttered the bed sheet slightly with one of his hands which was underneath it, “...That will occur shortly thereafter. I am not done with you yet. And remember, I still owe you for the restaurant incident.”

“Wow, that was a really wicked expression that just crossed your face,” Hank said in amazement.

“Not as far as you know, H-hank,” Boris said with his deep voice as he got out of bed and went to the bath room to retrieve another robe.

 

“Ah, French cheeses are divine, are they not?” Boris asked as he enjoyed a bite of Morbier on a thin slice of French bread along with a small piece of honeycomb.

“Yeah, this is delicious, but you’re going to need to educate me on the nuances of the different cheeses,” Hank said.

“It would be my pleasure, and you can also learn about the cheeses which come from cow’s milk versus goat’s milk and those which are pasteurized, etcetera,” Boris offered.

The two men enjoyed an elaborate cheese board which included dried fruits, honey comb, French bread and there was, of course, more coffee. It was, in fact, very nice out on the terrace – sunny and perfectly warm for an early spring, late afternoon with just a slight breeze which drifted across the open area. Boris was quite pleased that there were comfortable lounge chairs with thick cushions large enough for two people out on the terrace and he determined that if one lay down on the lounge chairs, no one on another rooftop terrace nearby or another 6th floor building window would see anything. The sixth floor was as high as anyone could build so there were no other taller buildings around. One could see the elegant, 900-foot-plus tall Tour Eiffel from the terrace and it was almost two miles away.

Boris waited until it looked like Hank had satisfied his hunger for food and wondered if he could entice Hank to be hungry for something else. He got up from his chair where they had sat at a table to eat and went to stretch out on the large lounge chair, “Hank, please join me, this is quite comfortable here, you would enjoy it,” Boris slowly patted the cushion next to him with his left hand.

Hank stood looking out over the city in the opposite direction and turned to walk back to where Boris was. He put his cup down on the table and sat down near Boris’ feet and placed his hand on Boris’ bare knee. He smiled at Boris and said, “You look really happy right now.” 

Hank didn’t say healthy because he knew that Boris was still weary (emotionally and psychologically) inside, and would be for a while because of everything that happened on the trip. Hank knew that Boris was drawing deeply to maintain his virility and thought that if he continued to do so, then Boris would be happy, and that was a good thing. Time spent loving each other, resting, and being away from negative energy was always a good thing – both for Boris and for Hank. 

They still had not talked about what happened at the formal dinner, or about his Elders, and Hank hoped that Boris would do so during their dinner that evening. Hank set his mind to coax Boris into doing that.

Boris felt a deep and ecstatic shiver in his core, and a part of his body tensed at the touch of Hank’s hand, “I do feel quite well and I was just thinking now of something very enjoyable.”

“Oh? What would that be?” Hank asked with a teasing tone to his voice.

“How direct would you like me to be? Or would you prefer to play a game?” Boris teased back.

Hank looked at Boris with a wide smile, his most charming version, and the bright sun lit his blue eyes. 

Boris fell in love with Hank all over again at that moment and smiled back at him.

Hank, too, fell in love with Boris again because the smile made Boris’ facial features even more handsome and his grey/blue eyes were bright and eager.

“I think we are going to be alone for a while until they bring us dinner. We could go back to the bedroom…” Hank said as he slid his hand up Boris’ thigh and under the robe, and relished the feel of the soft hair on Boris’ leg; Hank’s hand continued under the robe and then felt the parts of Boris which were both firm and soft at the same time.

Boris closed his eyes a brief moment as he savored the movement of Hank’s hand and the firm part of his body became very firm and he said quietly, “Or we could stay right here and do the same thing.”

“Here?” Hank said and he forgot to hide that he was shocked at what Boris suggested.

Hank looked around the terrace and his own ‘firmness’ asked for attention.

“We are alone, Hank,” Boris said gently.

Boris sat up, but didn’t move further; he placed his right hand on top of the part of his robe that Hank’s hand was under and pressed downward with the hope, and to hint, that Hank would not remove his hand from where it was...the hand felt so very nice right where it was. Boris took his left hand and held Hank gently at the back of his neck as his thumb caressed Hank’s bearded cheek and right earlobe. Tentatively, he leaned forward and Boris gently pulled Hank to slightly lean into him so that Boris could kiss him, but Boris didn’t want to force Hank into anything that he didn’t want to do. If Hank said in the next moment, that he preferred to go to the bedroom to make love instead of out in the openness of the terrace, then he would take Hank to the bedroom and continue to love him completely.

Hank allowed the kiss and Boris could tell that Hank was hesitant by his slowness to move. The kiss was a gentle one; it was loving and not forceful; Boris would wait until Hank decided what he wanted to do. Boris’ desire was no less diminished because of this hesitation, it actually thrilled him and he remembered the first few times they had kissed and Hank had been so hesitant back then.

Hank’s mind was going a mile a minute and his body started to scream for attention. He knew Boris waited for him and was thankful for that. Boris was a sensitive, kind, and generous lover and always showed care to Hank. As Hank drew to a decision, he felt an additional thrill deep inside of himself. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, out in the open like this.

Then, in the next moment, Boris whispered in Hank’s ear, “I love you, Hank.”

Hank closed his eyes again and took a deep breath; he whispered, “I love you back, Boris,” As he leaned into Boris’ next kiss and more strongly grasped the portion of Boris’ body that his hand still held.

Boris took a sharp inhale at the grasp and then quietly said as his lips barely touched Hank’s lips, “I will shield you with my body so that you feel secured,” And Boris moved forward, opened his robe and guided Hank down onto the cushions, he kissed him gently and held him firmly the entire time, “Oh, my beloved One, you thrill me to no end.”

They opened Hank’s robe and then adjusted their arms and hands and legs and feet and began to move almost as one.

Hank began to release his fears under the loving touches of Boris’ hands and lips; Boris’ lean and strong body moved with passion and soon Hank did not care where they were and only knew that it was bright, warm, and there was fresh air. Those additional sensations catapulted Hank quickly into ecstasy and he shuddered as it moved through him. Hank tried to cry out, but his voice failed him as his body needed that energy as well to complete what it had started.

Boris’ body dug deep into its store of vitality and the strength that it called forth was all consuming. His passion and love for Hank took charge of his senses and soon, he too, was completely at its mercy and he groaned in capitulation. Utterly spent, Boris slumped against Hank for a moment who gasped at feeling Boris’ full immobile body weight upon him, but then Boris gathered his wits within the next moment because he knew he was to always protect Hank at all costs and he moved slowly to be along side of Hank. Boris gently pulled Hank’s robe closed so that he was covered more appropriately as he thought Hank might want to be.

They laid there for several quiet minutes with their eyes closed, their bodies stretched out along the lounge chair but still entwined, and their breathing began to slow to normal. The late afternoon sun warmed them like a blanket. Boris’ face was at the right side of Hank’s neck and Boris’ right arm and leg were across Hank protectively. Hank was lying on his back and nicely tucked between Boris and the back of the lounge chair. Boris felt the breeze across his naked backside, as his open robe had slipped downward somewhat because of their movements, and he reached back and grasped it to pull it back across him and further still across Hank as extra coverage.

Hank swallowed hard and asked quietly, “Is Paris always this magical?”

Boris replied, “I am told that it is, if you are here with the one you love. Apparently, this is true, ja?”

They both drifted off to sleep within another moment and the warm Parisian sun and a gentle breeze caressed the lovers with affection. 

 

Hank scrunched his nose because something lightly brushed at his face. He awoke and realized where he was and then smiled widely as he felt Boris lying next to him. He opened his eyes to see the blue sky above him and then scrunched his nose again. The breeze had caught some of Boris’ long hair and brushed it against Hank’s face; Boris’ face was at Hank’s neck and ear and Hank could feel Boris’ breath on his skin. Hank wondered what time it was and then thought that if the sun was still up, which it was, then it was still before sunset. Dinner was set to arrive at nine that evening, so Hank knew they didn’t have to rush to get dressed.

The warm breeze blew Boris’ hair again and Hank reached over with his left hand and moved the silver hair back away from both of their faces. Boris murmured against Hank’s neck but didn’t move; Boris was in a deep sleep.

Hank laid there, looked up at the sky and thought about what the two of them had done out on the terrace. Hank suddenly remembered something he had said to Boris’ Elders about how Boris expanded Hank’s horizons; Hank smiled to himself and thought, ‘He really expanded my horizon this afternoon!’

Hank’s body then reminded him that he had drank a fair amount of coffee over the last few hours and that the liquid needed to be somewhere else at the moment. Hank grimaced slightly as he really didn’t want to move, but more importantly, he didn’t want to wake Boris. Hank decided to try and extricate himself from Boris’ whole-body-embrace and not wake him. As he was an agile man, Hank was successful in his endeavor and was even able to arrange Boris’ body so that he was comfortably belly down on the cushion with the left side of his face also on the cushion. Hank rearranged Boris’ robe as it had fallen away and left Boris’ lower back, backside and legs completely exposed. Satisfied that Boris was now comfortable, Hank trotted off quickly to the bath room.

Hank returned to the terrace a few moments later to find that Boris had not moved at all. He walked over to the table and picked at a few of the remnants of their afternoon snack while he watched Boris sleep. Hank then looked around the terrace and at the sky line of Paris around him. The moment became profound for Hank and he had to sit down, so he chose to sit near Boris’s feet on the lounger. Hank looked away from Boris and stared across the terrace, across the skyline and his eyes landed on the Eiffel Tower and stayed there for a few moments as he fell deep into thought.

Boris awoke and realized where he was and that Hank was not there beside him; but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hank sitting near him. Boris sat up slowly, looked at Hank and noticed that Hank was deep in thought. Boris didn’t move further and didn’t make any motion or sound, even to close his robe; he simply didn’t want to disturb Hank.

After a moment, Hank started and turned to see that Boris had sat up and watched him with a calm smile on his face.

With a curious tilt of his head, Boris asked gently, “Are you all right, Hank?”

“Oh yeah, I’m really all right; I was just having a profound moment,” Hank replied calmly as he rubbed his beard.

Boris moved and swung his legs around so that he was sitting upright next to Hank with his bare feet on the terrace floor, his hands bent on the edge of the cushion; he sat there properly with a straight back and with his robe wide open as calmly as if he was wearing a suit. He then ran his hands through his hair, looked around the terrace and then stretched his arms outward from his sides and said, “Such a nice nap.”

Hank replied as he looked at Boris, “Such a nice everything. That was amazing, Boris, thank you for being so considerate with me. I know I hesitated and you waited for me - again; I’ve just never done anything like that in a place like this, I mean, out in the open like this,” Hank held his hands in front of him, elbows bent, his palms faced upward.

“That makes two of us,” Boris said simply and he looked at Hank with a fond expression.

“Really? I thought that, well, you’re so worldly and you’ve had so many experiences that I thought you’ve made love in different kinds of places, I mean like outside...like this…” Hank trailed off.

“No, my beloved, One, I have only allowed myself a few…lovers…in my lifetime. With that, I have always had to be careful... ja, that is a good word to use; and so my...personal experiences have always been behind closed doors. I am too private, too serious, and too dedicated to allow myself the luxury of random, impromptu trysts; many of those types of…couplings…often occur with wild abandonment in nearly any open location; there have been times when I had thought about it...” Boris said honestly.

“But you seemed to be so knowledgeable like you had done that before, you knew just how to guide me through it and made me feel protected,” Hank said.

Boris said, “The idea of us making love to each other out here invigorated me; I simply desired to have you and had to contain my urge and control it until you agreed to it – I would not have done this without your consent; control, too, can be delightful. I have told you, my beloved One, I will always wait for you. For me at least, throwing myself into something I believe in with complete commitment helps me to embrace it in its entirety; my awareness expands it seems and I then begin to feel as if I know it when I thought I did not; when I reach this point, I do know it – that is possibly what you felt from me,” Boris offered, “I know you, Hank, in all the wonderful ways that you are; I know what you want and what you need and I simply try to fulfill all of that for you, plus more as I am able...like us being out here. As your mate, it is my duty to fulfill you as best as I can and by doing so it fulfills me at the same time, so it is completely worthwhile and necessary for both of us, ja? I shall never be perfect at this, but I am attempting to be so, for our benefit.”

“I’m so happy that we are here together right now in this place, I feel like I’m going to explode,” Hank said joyfully, turned on the cushion, held Boris’ face with both of his hands, he closed his eyes and kissed Boris with passion.

Boris responded with eagerness in his kiss, his eyes also closed, and another part of his body began to respond as well. As the kiss ended, Boris chuckled and he smiled at Hank as Hank drew away.

“What’s so funny?” Hank asked.

Boris looked down at himself (Hank looked there, too) and said, “You said the word ‘explode’.” 

“You’ve got to learn how to tame that thing,” Hank said with a chuckle.

“Not whilst you are around,” Boris replied teasingly.

 

Two hours later they had washed up and dressed for dinner. Since they were eating in their suite, Hank talked Boris into wearing only a shirt and trousers with no jacket, tie, or pocket square; Boris did insist on wearing shoes and socks and a belt. Boris reminded Hank that there was an evening excursion planned and being properly dressed then would be appropriate.

The dining area in the suite was cozy table for two and set into an alcove with a window and low ceiling. By nine p.m., the sun had set and the lights of the city were bright and were visible through the window. The entire suite had lighting placed in just the best places which created a different sense of luxury and harmony at night than during the day.

Their dinner was ‘fantastic’ (Hank’s word). They shared the Duck Foie Gras with Melon Appetizer and the Free Range Chicken (for two) from Bresse with Artichokes, Iberian Ham and Kalamata Olives with a second service of Oyster Meats with a Warm Salad and a Cabernet Vinaigrette Dressing. Dessert was shared and was a Floating Island and Toasted Brioche made with Vanilla from Madagascar with Whipped Egg White, Caramel and Custard Sauces. Of course, there was a wine pairing.

Boris said during dinner, “I know that we should talk about St. Petersburg, Hank, but I am not ready to do so. Will you give me a little more time to collect my thoughts?”

Hank replied, “Of course, Boris, take all the time you need; I can wait.”

 

It was 10:30 p.m. when Boris, Hank and the entourage arrived at the Eiffel Tower. Udo, Khalil, and Anton shadowed the two men to the top observation deck; Yussef stayed with the three vehicles, and Richard had stayed back at the hotel with Frank and Catherine.

The weather had stayed clear but the air was now almost cold and so they wore their wool coats, cashmere scarves and leather gloves. They walked up the stairs to the first floor and then took the glass-enclosed lift to the highest observation floor on the tower which was nearly 600 feet up from the ground level. There wasn’t too much of a crowd on that level that evening and so Udo, Khalil, and Anton were able to watch over them from a spot just outside and next to the lift. 

Boris and Hank stepped off the lift and after a few steps, Boris stopped. He looked at Hank, smiled and as they began to walk again, Boris grasped Hank’s arm and they walked arm-in-arm slowly around the deck. Boris could feel Hank’s tension and said quietly, “France has been recognized as one of the most openly friendly countries in the world on their attitudes towards same sex unions, Hank, you can relax and enjoy this.”

“This is weird,” Hank said and did relax; his shoulders dropped, but he still gripped Boris’ arm tight because he was excited.

Boris smiled as he knew that Hank was using his ‘good weird’ term.

They continued to walk slowly around the deck admiring The City of Lights and Boris pointed out to Hank a few of the monuments and special areas that one could see from that level on the Tower: the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and The Louvre Museum and Pyramid, were just three of the sights for the men to enjoy.

Boris said, “Now here is also a city rich in culture, architecture, food, and art, Hank, similar to St. Petersburg, but so much more joyful, ja? It was a marvelous…” 

Hank interrupted Boris in mid-sentence as he quickly let go of his arm, stood in front of Boris, reached up, held the back of Boris’ neck, his gloved hands woven into Boris’ hair and pulled Boris into a passionate kiss right there, on the deck, in front of everyone.

Boris gasped and stiffened for a fraction of a moment but then wrapped his arms around Hank, held him tightly with one hand at the small of Hank’s back and the other at the back of Hank’s head, and matched Hank’s passionate kiss right there, on the deck, also in front of everyone.

And it was a long and amorous kiss.

Udo, Khalil, and Anton were all stunned immobile by this event and so much so that they forgot to avert their widened eyes. Udo recovered first and turned his head; since he stood between Khalil and Anton, Udo used his gloved hands to touch them simultaneously on their jacket arms to break their shock, and then they too turned their heads.

The world around Boris and Hank ceased to exist. Neither man had thoughts about anything or anyone else at that moment. They were neither cold nor hot, neither hungry nor thirsty; there was no sound, there were no lights, there was almost no air because they drew that into themselves fiercely.

(Several other couples in three different types of pairings, who were on the same floor, saw them and felt prompted to show affection to their partners in a similar fashion.)

Hank softened his hold slightly and pulled away but only so that their foreheads touched and they stayed physically connected for a few more moments. 

Boris’ lips lingered on Hank’s lips for a brief moment and he kept his head bent downward.

Their eyes were closed and they slowly relaxed their hold on one another; they slowly became aware of the world around them again and felt the chilled breeze across their faces. Their breathing was deep and their chests heaved.

Boris could barely whisper, but he said with a slight smile, “You have completely seduced me, Hank.”

Hank whispered back, also with a small smile, “Well, it’s about time, mister.”

They pulled back, opened their eyes and looked at each other lovingly. They moved and locked arms again but stood in place. 

Boris blinked and looked around as Hank watched him. He sighed and motioned to Hank with a tilt of his head towards the other couples who were either still in their kiss or had just finished their kiss. He chuckled and said proudly, “There is much love in La Ville-Lumière tonight, Hank, and WE are a part of that.”

 

~~~

 

“Hank?!” Boris said.

“Boris?!” Hank replied.

“YOU kissed ME in public, and, YOU embarrassed ME in front of my Elders, and over cookies, no less!” Boris said.

“Yeah?! So what!” Hank replied.

They were both in the shower and Boris held Hank against the tiled wall as the water cascaded down over their bodies; they spoke loudly above the sound of the water and smiled at one another.

“I just wanted to say that out loud and remind you that you have now added to your debt!” Boris said with a chuckle and then stepped back to grab the sponge and soap.

“MY debt?!” Hank asked innocently.

“Oh, ja,” Boris said less loudly, nodded at the common knowledge of the topic, and started to wash Hank’s chest.

“You’re the one who’s racking up all of the expensive doctor bills,” Hank stated, “We’re gonna have to sell off property to make ends meet, you know.”

Boris laughed heartily and pulled Hank towards him again, embraced him chest to chest, and then reached around and started to wash Hank’s back from where he stood in front of Hank.

“That’s an interesting way of washing my back, Tree,” Hank observed with a laugh as he held onto Boris.

“I know…I just wanted to do this at the same time,” Boris said as he moved his hips from side to side and rubbed himself against Hank.

 

When the two men finally made it down to breakfast in the Ritz Hotel’s Bar Vendôme restaurant, it was already 11 a.m. They had decided to take it slow and easy the entire day and because it was so pleasant outside, they chose to take a very long walk from the hotel down Rue Royal, past the Place de la Concorde with its Egyptian Obelisk and the Fountaine de Mers over to, and along, the Ave des Champs-Élysées via and across the Jardin de la Nouvelle France and then to a restaurant called Laurent for an late afternoon ‘Le Grande Parade de Paris’ cocktail and a snack. This was a restaurant that was housed in the former hunting lodge of King Louis XIV and one which even Boris had not visited yet. It was highly regarded by the Ritz’s concierge and so they just had to see what it was all about.

Udo, Khalil, Anton, Richard and Jacob shadowed them on foot and the round trip from the hotel was less than two miles; and since there was nothing slow and relaxing about driving in Paris, the cars were unused that afternoon; Yussef stayed with Frank and Catherine who had decided to go to the Louvre for the day, which was also within walking distance in the opposite direction of the Ritz. 

During their walk, Boris told Hank that it was now an appropriate time for them to discuss the formal dinner and his Elders. 

They were outside in the fresh air and walked slowly; Hank commented that it felt private even though there were other people walking around; that was partly because everyone else was doing what they were doing: they were enjoying the weather and were engrossed in their own conversations. Just after they left the fountain and walked down the paved foot path in the Jardin de la Nouvelle France, which paralleled the Ave des Champs-Élysées, Hank then took Boris’ arm again and they walked arm-in-arm the entire way. It made them feel good to have that close physical connection and Hank teased Boris that he looked ‘joyful’.

“Perhaps, I am a bit overly…” Boris began.

“Oh, just say it, you are so happy right now,” Hank teased.

Boris smiled slightly and nodded his head.

“That whole night at Monument House was amazing, it was completely opposite of what I thought would happen,” Hank admitted.

“Ja, I agree and it went further. It was not only a pleasant gathering with fine food, drink, and intelligent conversation…but, we truly reconnected as a family, and, for me the best part is that you were brought into the fold,” Boris said with some amazement and a lot of pride in his voice. He grasped Hank’s arm a bit more firmly.

“I’ve never been so surprised at feeling so welcomed,” Hank replied.

“And…my Elders were…affectionate,” Boris said plainly, and with hesitation, as he clearly was working through that, still, in his mind.

“Yeah, that was the biggest surprise, I think,” Hank said, “And those generous gifts they gave us…wow!”

“I must tell you, Hank, that the gifts are a gesture with many layers. Those gifts meant that they sincerely welcomed us, both of us, first; then, they represent my, er, re-establishment, as it were, within my Russian family lineage – and not a banishment, and lastly, they represent an apology. Our acceptance of the gifts has forged a new family bond,” Boris said with reverence.

“Both of your Uncles took me aside, do you remember when that happened the second time during the evening when we stepped apart from each other? They asked me if I would consider adding the Ratenicz name onto my own and said they would be happy to endorse that. I told them I would seriously think about it,” Hank said with a little nervousness.

“Surely, that is quite remarkable, and amusing, because my Aunt asked me if I would be adding your name to my own,” Boris said with a lighthearted tone.

The two men stopped walking for a moment and looked at each other; Hank shrugged his shoulders and Boris nodded his head. They smiled at each other.

Boris said simply with a wave of his hand, “Well, we already have the business cards and Diane and her team could make the legalities of it occur with a blink of an eye.”

Hank laughed out loud and when he finally caught his breath, he asked, “Do you think that your Elders know how much doing that officially will piss off the other factions of your family?”

“Since they represent the three most venerable members of my Russian family and are exceedingly savvy in the ways of the world, and are also at odds with the other factions, I would venture to guess that they know what it would do and most likely do not care. However, I believe Uncle Stanislav would take great delight in that ruffling of feathers; he does that sort of thing, you know. He is often the instigator. I should also like to believe now that since we are truly part of the Rateniczes now, that they would provide us assistance if we ever needed it, especially against the other portions of the family; I was told this during the evening,” Boris offered.

“Okay, really? Hey, a couple of things here; first, you just said ‘my Russian family’ – that’s very cool, and second, when was the last time that you ever had help from anyone in your family?” Hank asked.

“Huh. I did say that, hmmm,” Boris replied and then paused and thought about that and the process produced a slight smile.

Hank looked up at Boris and watched him think.

“I have not shared this with you as yet, Hank, but Uncle Vasily formally offered assistance to us for family or other situations,” Boris said, “And I offered reciprocal assistance in return.”

“That is terrific, Boris! This is huge!” Hank said enthusiastically and he moved so they could start walking again.

“And to answer your question, I shall merely state that it has been a very long time since the seniors in the family assisted the younger members in our family, in that way – it is simply not something that is done, er, regularly, especially to a rebel like me,” Boris said with a reminiscent tone to his voice.

“I married a bad boy!” Hank said playfully.

“Hank, may we sit down over on this bench here for a moment?” Boris asked politely.

“Sure, are you okay?” Hank said as he looked at Boris with concern as they walked over to a carved stone garden bench and sat down.

“Ja, I am fine, truly. I just wanted to say some things to you,” Boris said honestly.

“Sure, what’s up?” Hank said cheerfully but inside he became a little worried.

“You know how Evan jokes about you being married to a ‘German duke’, ja?” Boris asked simply.

“Yes, and I still think back to when he passed himself off as one of your cousins so that we could get into your party,” Hank said trying to keep the mood light.

“You, yourself once said that you would love me even if I was ‘king of the world’,” Boris offered.

“Ha! I almost forgot about that,” Hank said with a smile and then the smiled faded as he watched Boris’ expression become more serious.

“Well, first, I shall have you know that I will never become a ‘king’, perhaps close, but not so much; so, how do you say it? Ah! ‘The pressure is off,’ ja? I hope that you do not mind that I do not become this,” Boris said.

Hank smiled slightly and nodded, then shook his head and shrugged his shoulders all at the same time, still wary of where this was going.

Boris looked away for a moment and his eyes first settled intently on a flowering shrub across the path. He then subtly waved his gloved hand in the air slightly in the fashion of ‘no matter, not important’ and it almost looked like he was writing on a chalkboard in front of him. He was literally brushing away specific details in his mind that he felt should actually present to Hank in his attempt to describe what he was about to say. Those details crashed together and rearranged themselves in his mind like a bursting-at-the-seams catalog and he felt the best course of action would be to filter everything down to its purest form; the details would always be there anyway. His hand kept moving in the air even though his elbow was next to his body, and his face went somewhat blank but his eyes moved back and forth and appeared to now be reading something invisible in front of him.

Hank moved his head to look at Boris and watched his expression change; and to Hank, Boris looked suddenly tired, somewhat frustrated, and that he was thinking way too hard on such a beautiful day; Hank placed his hand on top of Boris’ coat at his knee, “Boris? Look at me, please?”

“Huh?” Boris shook his head to release the complications that had flooded it, “Ah, ja, I apologize. Too much up here at the moment,” And he pointed to his forehead with the hand that wrote in the air.

Hank looked up and saw Udo, who was a short distance away and had made a hand signal towards Hank that asked, ‘Should I come to you?’

Hank smiled and shook his head and then came to Boris’ rescue, “Hey, come on and look at me,” Hank said charmingly as Boris’ eyes slowly moved away from ‘the invisible chalkboard’ (Hank’s description) in front of him and met Hank’s eyes; Hank waved his other hand slightly at Boris, “Hi there.”

Boris looked at Hank and blinked; he was tired and slightly fearful as he hadn’t finished processing his multiple trains of thought and needed to do so.

Hank said, with all of the compassion and the love he had for his husband as he reached to hold both of Boris’ hands in his own, “I get it, Boris. Listen to me. I know that you are the product of ancient German nobility and Russian royalty. It’s a wonder that you can even stand up straight with all of that weight of the ages on your shoulders. It’s also very cool because you are the living embodiment of history and a bloodline, which the last time I read up on all of this goes back to the 12th to 14th centuries, somewhere in there. Yeah, I’ve done some research on you, my Husband. I’ll say it again, that’s all well and good, but for you and me? It doesn’t matter to me that you’re a blueblood. It also doesn’t matter to me that you’re net worth has something like 15 zeros after the number one.”

Boris blinked and sighed as his fear receded; he sat up straight on the bench, his chin up and he looked regal.

“Remember what I told your Elders? I only care about you, nothing else,” Hank said as he took one of his hands and touched Boris on his coat at his heart first and then touched his temple (and gently brushed a lock of silver hair from his forehead), “I only want true companionship from the guy whose heart is in here and whose mind is in here; and yeah I find you over-the-top handsome and that’s really nice, too, but my point is, you’re the guy I married and that’s all that matters to me. Your money, your power, your station, it all comes with you, fine, whatever. I fell in love with you before I knew about the details of your background. Okay?”

“You, Dr. Hank Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz, are the most extraordinary of men. Thank you being my husband and understanding me so often better than I do myself,” Boris said with relief.

“See, I know you, Mr. Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz-Lawson; I know what YOU want and what YOU need…yeah, I can play that game with you, too. You were gonna try and explain to me your whole lineage, weren’t you? That’s why you started to look like a history book, right?” Hank said with a smile. 

Hank wasn’t going to tell Boris at that moment how, when Boris would get buried with details and facts, Hank had come up with a personal term to describe Boris’ expression: Encyclopedia Man. Hank knew that would take the conversation in another direction and decided to save it for another day.

“Ja, well…” Boris started to say something and he looked with shyness at the ground in front of their shoes.

Hank put his fingers to Boris’ lips and said, “The family tree book goes back on the shelf because we’ve got more walking to do, a fancy French cocktail to drink and food to eat. Is that the restaurant over there?” And Hank pointed to a two-story, yellow and white building just a short walk away through the park from where they sat.

“I believe so,” Boris replied as they stood up, held each other’s arms and continued to walk, “May I share with you what I know about this lovely park?”

“Okay, Professor Boris, what do you know about this park?” Hank said with a wide grin as he gripped Boris’ arm tighter.

Boris began, “Well, it was formerly known at the Jardin de la Vallée Suisse and it was laid out along the excessively and ridiculously busy Champs- Elysées in preparation for the 1900 World’s Fair. It reflects the Orientalistic fad of that time. It is less than, hmmm (he converted what he knew into acres for Hank’s sake), two acres in size but is astonishingly quiet given its proximity to this city’s nastiest motor vehicle artery; the park’s irregular design has been described by some as a refreshing break from the obsessively geometrical gardens of which the French are most fond…”

 

The lights of Paris filtered in softly through the window of their suite and depending on where the light fell in the room it was either the color of silver, grey, or amber. The two men had just climbed into their bed and settled in moments before at midnight. The day had been long but relaxing for them; after the walk back from Laurent, some time was spent in the azure toned pool at the Ritz Club Paris, and then still after a late dinner at the Ritz’s La Table de L’Espadon, Hank suggested that they call it day.

“How do you feel, Tree?” Hank asked quietly.

“I am well. Today was a marvelous day. And you, my beloved One?” Boris replied in a hushed, low voice. His head was on Hank’s shoulder and his right arm across Hank’s body. 

They were covered with soft woven blankets and had decided to use all six down pillows.

“I’m happy. Today is just what the doctor ordered, although I think we should have taken a nap instead of gone swimming. We’ll have to thank Udo again for suggesting we spend the day here in Paris; it was worth the overnight flight and all of the stuff we did. I need to know, as your doctor now, how are you doing? Seriously, I mean, do you feel any pain, weakness, dizziness, that kind of stuff?” Hank said.

“Eh, I have no pain or dizziness; I am quite weary though,” Boris admitted.

“You’ve expended a lot of energy on this trip, on so many levels; I’m concerned that you haven’t restored your strength back. I mean you keep using up what you gain…” Hank said. 

Boris interrupted, hugged Hank firmly and said, “Some of the ways which I have used up my energy have been utterly delightful, and I must thank you for indulging me, and…” Boris moved his hand down lower to rest on Hank’s sleep shirt at his lower abdomen.

Hank interrupted Boris, “And you need to just rest and not do anything and I mean anything,” Hank chuckled and continued, “Like I know that you can’t keep your hands, or other parts of you off of me and I’m so flattered that I excite you so much, but gees, Boris, you’ve got to rest more now.”

“Hank, I have waited, and searched, so long to have the perfect someone to share my life with and now that I have you – my perfect someone - can you truly blame me for wanting to love you and adore you in the ways that I do?” Boris asked.

“No, I understand because I feel the same way. You just go about it so intensely that I can’t help but worry that you will literally wear yourself out of existence. If I wasn’t a doctor then I wouldn’t know to worry so much. You’re intense and I worry, I guess this is what we do,” Hank said, “I have to say I’m also happy that we are going home tomorrow. We only added one day to this entire trip and we spent it doing terrific things. I knew it wasn’t going to be a restful trip and that’s okay, it was successful in other ways. And I’m proud of you for not asking to add on further to this trip either.”

“I hoped that you would notice that; I have tried to be a good boy, and I do not wish to irritate you every day,” Boris admitted, “I must say that I had thought about it, though. We are in Paris, Hank, do you actually realize the exquisite temptations this city holds for me?”

“Yeah, I took a chance with that, and I can guess that you’re holding back, too. So, I’m still in doctor mode here and I’d like to first ask that you to try and sleep on the plane as much as you can. It’s a little over eight hours flying time and you could get some serious rejuvenating sleep in. Also, when we’re home, I would like you to take the next couple of days where you practice being the laziest Boris you can be and sleep until you can’t sleep any more. You’re not going to do anything at all; no work, no exercise, nothing; I want to see how bored you can get without you going crazy,” Hank stated.

“Good lord, Hank, you must be terribly worried about me,” Boris turned his head to look at Hank and knitted his eyebrows with concern, “I apologize…for this.”

Hank leaned his head forward and kissed Boris on the forehead, “It’s okay, and this is what you get when you marry a doctor, especially one like me.” Hank wasn’t about to tell Boris that he also planned to do a blood draw on Boris just after they returned home. Hank wanted to see where Boris’ numbers were after the trip and compare them to what the numbers were before the trip.

Boris placed his head back on Hank’s shoulder and enjoyed listening to Hank’s breath and heartbeat.

They became quiet for a few moments and the soft lights of the city continued to shine in through the windows. 

“It does seem to be kinda wrong for us to not make love on our last night in Paris though,” Hank said quietly.

Boris didn’t hear him because Boris had fallen asleep.

Hank tilted his head again to look at Boris and he smiled; Hank looked out across the bedroom at the window and random thoughts of the trip ran across his mind. He absently stroked Boris’ hair gently as he still wondered from time-to-time just how much his life had changed and knew that never in his wildest dreams could he imagine any of this. Hank wished that he could stop wondering about it and move on, but it was almost a year since he and Boris had come together and Hank started to think that he would always wonder about how his life with Boris came about; he thought, ‘Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be.’ He felt Boris sigh and heard a deep hum which came from Boris’ throat; that tone had become one of Hank’s favorite sounds. Hank smiled to himself and gradually sleep took him as well. 

 

~~~

 

Rest was needed. Boris didn’t sleep well on the flight home; he wasn’t unhappy or nervous, but Hank surmised that Boris was just too exhausted to sleep. Boris then slept almost 36 hours in total over the course of two days which began the night they arrived back home. Hank was very tired and slept a little longer as well, but he apparently didn’t need as much rest as Boris did. Hank knew that Boris had drained himself of all of his energy during the trip and was ‘running on fumes’ towards the end. Hank could only imagine just how messed up Boris’ internal chemistry was now; Boris had trouble even getting out of the Bentley on his own (Hank and Khalil had to help him); the walk to the house from the car and then down the corridor to their Apartment was a chore; Boris almost collapsed to the floor. Hank also had to help Boris dress for bed and he was asleep before his head touched the pillow. 

‘What a trip,’ Hank thought to himself; so many things had happened (especially) to Boris – emotionally, psychologically, and of course, physically. Hank’s mind became busy as he thought further about everything that had happened: the visits with Albert, to Dima’s grave, and with the Elders, and of course, their time in Paris. Hank smiled and thought ‘Wow,’ at the physical thoughts and he chuckled at the memory of when he told Boris he needed to “…tame that thing…” and then wondered where in the hell did Boris get the stamina for their love making in the condition that he was in. Hank thought to himself, ‘Love makes us do amazing things, I guess.’

Hank brought his laptop back into their Apartment, sat on the bed and worked while Boris slept beside him. Hank had tried to spend time in Library and work because he didn’t want to disturb Boris with the soft clatter of his fingertips on the keyboard, but his thoughts kept wandering back to Boris and so he gave up and returned to the Apartment. Hank kept going into doctor mode and felt that he needed to watch Boris for any signs of distress. Hank didn’t know if Boris would have nightmares or maybe develop a fever or have trouble breathing and so he just decided to stay by Boris’ side. Boris did not wake during the time Hank worked on the bed. Hank knew he could have worked over at the small table in the Apartment, but he wanted to be right next to Boris for some reason. As Boris would shift his position, or take a sudden deeper breath, Hank would stop whatever he was working on and went into Dr. Hank mode and checked Boris’ pulse, temperature, and listened to his lungs and his heart.

Boris slept right through breakfast on the first day (Hank just didn’t have the nerve to wake him). Hank had tried to eat his breakfast in the Parlor Dining Room, but he discovered that eating there by himself made him feel incredibly sad, and he kept staring at Boris’ empty chair and the lack of Boris’ place setting on the table; and then a horrible thought invaded Hank’s mind that this is what it would feel like if Boris passed away before he did and Hank would be alone. That thought filled his mind quickly and violently and was enough to make Hank stop eating - he nearly lost his appetite. He had to work hard to force that image from his mind…really hard. Hank reasoned with himself on several levels to try and calm the fear he suddenly felt. Hank banged on the table once with his fist in frustration. He looked down at his plate and with his fork he had absently and randomly split all of the food in half, which was about how much Boris would eat at every meal. Hank said out loud to himself, “Oh, crap.” 

So Hank picked up his plate of food with one hand, stuffed the flatware and the napkin in his jeans pockets, placed a piece of buttered toast between his teeth, and held the glass of orange juice with the other hand, and then carried it all back to their Apartment and ate at their small dining table there. 

Udo had checked on Hank in the dining room at one point and found that Hank and most his place setting were gone. Udo walked down the corridor quickly towards his Masters’ Apartment, stopped, and from a discreet location watched Hank as he carried his breakfast items, opened their door and entered; then, a moment later, the door closed quietly. Udo shook his head slowly and felt saddened for Dr. Hank. Udo reflected on how both of his Masters now individually reacted when the other one was ill, or away, or experienced trauma, and then Udo had the sudden and worrisome thought that neither of his Masters would be able to live without the other – they were that close and that in tune with one another; Udo knew at that moment that he would lose both of them at the same time. Udo decided to think on this topic further when he had his quiet time, his meditation time, to best plan to care for them and hoped that he, too, would be with them until the end. He hoped that this end-of-days would occur ONLY after the husbands had enjoyed many decades of life and love together. 

Throughout the two days of Boris’ sleep marathon, Udo politely commented to Hank, during one of the times when Boris was still asleep – two p.m. – that he had never seen the Master sleep so long and asked if Hank had given him a sedative. Hank explained to Udo that he had not done so and further said that he received a promise from Boris that Boris would sleep as much as he could when they returned home. (Hank just didn’t think that Boris would do it practically all at once.) Udo nodded his head in understanding and made a sincere comment about Hank receiving this gift from Boris; Udo knew about Boris and promises. Both Udo and Hank together cared for Boris during this time to help him regain his health.

Hank worried that Boris had missed his regular meal times: two breakfasts and one dinner, but when Boris would awaken, he expressed some hunger but ate only a little; Hank did have to press upon Boris to drink fluids as he suddenly didn’t want to do that; not even coffee, but after Hank’s insistence, and his describing to Boris about dehydration and its severity, Boris followed Hank’s orders. Udo helped prod Boris to drink the glass of water he offered him. During one of the times that Boris was awake, Hank again explained to him why he wanted to do the blood draw and Boris said he remembered and understood and allowed him to make the draw. Boris appreciated Hank’s attention to his health, as always, and told him so, and hoped that he would not give Hank anything more to worry about.

 

~~~

 

Test results came back on the third day with Boris’ numbers and they were within low normal ranges – for Boris - and they both felt relief. Hank knew that Boris’ numbers were always at either the low end of a scale or the high end of a scale, always bordering on an issue; Hank had those numbers memorized and so he kept a close watch and lived on the edge as he balanced Boris’ health. 

Hank said with a positive tone to his voice, “Now let’s keep this up, everything we’ve been doing is working well so far. How do you feel?”

Boris replied with a slight smile, “I feel quite rested now, thank you, Hank, for waiting for me. I must tell you that I thought I heard some clicking sounds at one point, but I was so weary that I could not wake enough to ask you about it. Did you attach me to one of your monitoring machines?”

Hank smiled and shyly said, “No…that was just me working on my laptop. I sat on our bed next to you and worked while you slept.”

Boris tilted his head and looked at Hank lovingly, “Why did you do that?”

Still shy, Hank, “I, uh, just didn’t want to be away from you. I missed you.” Hank didn’t (and couldn’t) share with Boris about the image Hank had when he was alone in the dining room.

Boris reached out and embraced Hank and brought Hank’s head to his shoulder, “Come to me, my beloved One…” 

 

~~~

 

Saturday arrived and Evan came to have lunch with them, they were seated in the Parlor Dining Room and Hank had asked for Italian food that day. 

 

Boris asked Patrice, their Sommelier, prior to the lunch, to bring up a nice wine to pair with the meal and they talked at length of either a powerful Barbaresco or a traditional red Valpolicella.

Hank chuckled at their animated discussion, which was peppered with words in French and Italian, and when Boris asked Hank which wine he preferred, Hank admitted that he was clueless about Italian wines, but also reminded them that he didn’t understand French or Italian and they would have to repeat what they talked about in English. Hank only knew about the bottles of Chianti that had the straw basket wrapped around them which eventually became cheesy candle holders and didn’t remember anything about the wine inside of those bottles. Boris and Patrice then launched into an educational class about the two wines that they were deciding upon and Hank eventually chose the safe route, the traditional red, because he knew that all of this would be lost on Evan and that made Hank a little sad. Boris enjoyed making sure that their weekly luncheons with Evan were nothing short of gourmet amazement with a lot of special touches that became part of Hank’s culinary education, which he appreciated a great deal.

Hank said, “You know, Boris, it’s just Evan. He’d eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if you gave it to him.”

“Ja, I know, Hank. And I even know what that kind of a sandwich that is - you should be proud of me. In any case, it pleases me to arrange and enjoy a fine meal for and with the two of you. If next week, you would like to surprise Evan with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I shall alert Chef and his team to fresh grind the peanuts, prepare house-made jelly and bake a loaf of some sandwich-like bread, perhaps a sourdough would be nice. What sort of jelly does Evan prefer?” Boris said innocently and then he looked across the room and said, “Hmmm, and what sort of wine goes with peanut butter and…”

“No, no, Boris, it’s okay, really,” Hank said laughingly.

 

“Welcome back, again; you guys never stay put, do you? Where did you go again?” Evan said as he took a big bite of the lasagna that he had liberally covered in shaved Pecorino cheese – even though the lasagna had a hearty meat sauce and four other cheeses inside of it.

“Evan, I always tell you where we go before we leave and you never remember what I say. Do you even listen to me? We went to Germany, Hungary, and Russia…and uh, France, too,” Hank said with a smile as he looked at Boris who smiled slightly back at him.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right, I remember now, you did tell me that, except the France part, you didn’t say anything about France,” Evan replied.

Hank shook his head and continued eating his garden side salad.

Boris watched them as he sipped on his wine and smiled in amusement.

Evan swallowed the bite of food before speaking (he was trying to show better table manners per Hank’s suggestion) and then asked, “What did you do in Europe and was this a business trip?”

“You could say that it was a type of business trip, Evan, although we were also visiting with friends and…” Boris paused as he wasn’t quite sure if he should say the word ‘family’ because he knew Evan would be his usual ‘unduly inquisitive’ (Boris’ words) self.

“And…” Evan prompted.

“We visited some family whilst we were there also,” Boris admitted.

“Going back to ze old country, eh?” Evan said in a strange sounding, pseudo-European-esque accent.

Hank looked at Boris and quipped, “At least he’s not trying to pretend he’s one of your cousins again.”

Boris nodded his head and said, “Quite.”

“So, Boris, do you have family in all of those places?” Evan asked.

“Ah, ja, however, I have no family in France, that was a pleasant side trip,” Boris replied and looked at Hank with an expression which made Hank smile.

Hank loved the way Boris said the word: frahns.

“Oh gees, do I have to tell you two to get a room again? I’m sure you can find one in this big house!” Evan said with mock exasperation and then did a very poor imitation of Maurice Chevalier as he said, “Oh, oh, oh, mah broth-err, please pass me la bread, oh, oh, oh!”

“I’m going to throw the bread at you, Evan, you sound ridiculous!” Hank said with a laugh as he handed the silver bread basket to Evan.

“So, Bro, what was your favorite part of the trip?” Evan asked simply as he buttered a slice of bread; Evan preferred his bread that way over the dish of extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar which one could dunk the bread into, if one were eating the bread Italian-style.

Hank looked serious for a moment and Boris watched him. 

Hank said sincerely, “That’s difficult to answer Evan, because there were parts of each place we visited that were really special; I mean the food was wonderful, the architecture and the history of the places was amazing, yeah; and we stayed in really beautiful hotels, but…no, I don’t think I can answer that question specifically. It was a really unique kind of trip.”

“Oh, uh, well, okay, I get it; I didn’t think it was a loaded question, but I think I understand,” Evan said with a worried tone, “As long as you guys are okay and that everything’s okay, then uh, okay. I’m glad you’re both back safely.”

Boris looked at Evan and actually held his gaze as he tried to assure him and said calmly, “Do not worry, Evan, we are quite fine and everything is in order; thank you for your concern. We simply did some reconnecting with family and friends and all is well. I am certain that you understand that family situations can be challenging, ja? Be assured that things are better now than before we left.”

“That’s great to hear, yeah, I’m sure your royal duke-ness situation can be kinda complicated. Terrific! Again, I’m glad you two are okay and that you’re home safe and sound,” Evan said with relief.

Hank watched Boris as he spoke and smiled warmly, then took a long sip of his wine. Hank wasn’t even going to comment on Evan’s word of “duke-ness” at that point. As Hank placed his wine glass down on the table, he asked, “So what did you do while we were gone?”

“Oh, yeah! So, I went and bought a car and then put the rest of the money into an investment portfolio that the guy at the Fasstone Bank told me to put it in for maximum value earning capability,” Evan replied happily.

Boris tilted his head, looked at Evan with wide eyes of concern and asked, “What bank, Evan? Which ‘guy’, Evan?”

“You know, your bank, the Fasstone Bank in New York. Gees! What a fortress that place is! Kinda scary. Oh, wait, let me get his business card,” Evan said cheerfully and dug his wallet out of his back pocket and rifled through the many bits of paper, credit cards, other business cards he had stuffed into it and he spread it all out on the dining table as he did so. 

“Repeat after me, Evan, its pronounced: ‘fesh tung’,” Hank offered with a laugh in his voice as he had not heard the name butchered like that before – only Evan could do that; and Hank chuckled as he had learned a while back that the word ‘festung’ (the real name, and spelling, of the bank) actually meant ‘fortress’ in German and it was funny to him that Evan called it a fortress without knowing what the name really meant.

Boris grimaced slightly at Evan’s treatment of their bank’s name, but was very pleased with Hank’s pronunciation.

“Oh, wait, here’s my money guy’s business card, Mr. uh, Fitzgibbons; he’s a nice old Irish guy,” Evan said with some pride as he handed the card to Boris.

“Ah, Sheamus; indeed, you did well to work with him, Evan,” Boris said as he handed the card between two of his long fingers to Hank to look at.

Hank read and handed the card back to Evan and said, “Nice. Good job. What kind of a car did you get?”

“It’s so hot! I went old school and got a Corvette Stingray Convertible, and it’s like the most awesome fire engine red color you can imagine; I like to call the color ‘Sexy Red Lips’,” Evan said as he put the card back into his wallet, along with all of the other things he had set on the table, and then tucked the wallet back into his pocket.

Hank asked, “Did you get a new one with the full warranty?”

“Yup, I sure did and it is amazing to drive! It really hugs the road Two women have already asked to take a ride in it,” Evan said with a big smile and nodded his head with enthusiasm, “If either of you ever want to go for a ride, just let me know, okay?”

“So, am I to assume that you have fulfilled your desire to have a “fast and hot-looking” automobile, ja?” Boris asked and thought that he wasn’t about to take a ride in the car with Evan and hoped Evan would not press upon him to do so.

“Yeah, thanks again, Boris for this opportunity with the car and the portfolio…I really, really appreciate it…” Evan smiled, looked shy, and trailed off because he felt like anything else he would say couldn’t convey just how grateful he was for Boris’ gift.

“You are most welcome, Evan, I am happy that you are pleased. Shall we adjourn to the seating area? I believe Chef has made us tiramisu this afternoon as a sweet finish to our Italian feast,” Boris said graciously.

As they settled in the seating area and Marie brought them their coffee and dessert, Evan asked, “So, where are you two traveling to next?”

Hank looked at Boris.

Boris replied, “We do not have any specific plans at this moment, Evan, we only have some ideas. It shall be nice to spend early springtime here at Shadow Pond.”

“Okay, sounds good, I’ve been trying to think of places to go on a vacation, now that I have the gift of plane tickets from you guys, thank you very much; and I have a list of 23 places I want to see,” Evan said enthusiastically.

“Only 23?” Hank asked with a smile.

“It’s a big world out there, Bro, you should know that by now with the two of you gallivanting around the planet like you do!” Evan said cheerfully.

“I have NEVER heard you use the word ‘gallivanting’ before, Evan, that’s pretty amazing,” Hank said and then took a bite of his dessert, chewed happily and swallowed, “Oh, wow, this is delicious!”

“Indeed, do you taste the coffee and the Marsala wine, Hank?” Boris said after he finished eating his small bite.

“Yes, that’s really nice, and I like how creamy the mascarpone cheese is…” Hank replied.

“Okay, dude, so I’ve never heard YOU say the word ‘mascarpone’, before; and uh, there’s wine AND cheese in this?” Evan said.

“Yes, Evan; often times either Marsala or Madeira wine is incorporated into the cake. I detect that Chef Henri used Marsala wine today. The word ‘tiramisu’ is Italian for ‘pick me up’ or ‘lift me up’, which refers to the coffee in the recipe, and for the boost that the caffeine may provide to someone eating it,” Boris instructed.

Hank smiled and continued to eat his cake.

Evan said, “You don’t say.”

Boris then said, “Evan, I was thinking, if you need any assistance with your vacation plans, such as suggestions on where to stay, and er, things to do, I would be pleased to share with you some of what I know and it may add enjoyment to your trip.”

“Gee, thanks Boris, that would be swell! When I have my list narrowed down a little bit, we can talk a little bit more, okay?” Evan replied with gratitude.

 

~~~

 

Hank was running outside in the Formal Gardens the next morning and felt his phone vibrate at his hip; he stopped and removed the phone from the holster to see who was calling. It was Evan.

In between deep breaths, Hank said, “Hi Evan…what’s up?”

Evan asked, “Why is your husband being so nice to me?”

“Uh…” Hank said as he tried to catch his breath, “What?”

“Why is Boris…your…husband… being so nice to me?!” Evan repeated slowly but loudly.

Hank had to hold the phone away from his ear for that moment; then when Evan stopped yelling at him, Hank brought the phone back to his ear and said calmly, “Because…he’s actually a really good guy…and he actually does nice things for people…and you are people, Evan. Why are you asking me this?” Hank was confused but began to feel amused.

“Well, first, it was the car and the portfolio, and then there was help with the fireplace, and then it was the offer of help with my vacation plans, and now one of his Chefs, you know, Mack the big Italian guy? He just came over and asked me what kind of jelly I like on my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!” Evan said with some exasperation in his voice.

Hank busted out laughing and didn’t stop for a few moments.

“What, Bro?!” Evan yelled from the phone.

“So, what kinds of jelly DO you like on your PB&J’s, Evan?” Hank asked and began to laugh again; Hank knew Evan liked good old-fashioned grape jelly, but he just had to ask Evan the question anyway and he continued to laugh so hard that he dropped the phone on the gravel as Evan went nearly into a meltdown on the other end of the phone...


	25. Recipe, Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, things happen which lead to a most likely outcome; and then again, sometimes they don’t...

“So, I’m going to ask you for your permission so that I can remove it,” Hank asked simply.

“Really. Why?” Boris replied and then asked simply in return.

“Because I didn’t ask for your permission to start it in the first place…” Hank replied, “And I don’t want you to look at me like you did when you were the last to know about it. That was a scary look; you can save that look for business dealings; I don’t ever want to give you cause to use that look on me ever again.”

They stood in the Bath Room and were getting ready for bed when Hank announced this and Boris came over to him and embraced him. They looked at each other, Hank with a serious expression and Boris with a charmed expression. 

Boris enjoyed the way the Bath Room’s bright lights lit up Hank’s blue eyes and he tilted his head one way and then the other in satisfaction. He was amused that Hank was so grave about this topic and took delight in Hank’s earnest energy towards it.

“I was holding my blade at the time; would that have made my look more ‘scary’ to you?” Boris asked playfully.

“Well, maybe,” Hank said hesitantly.

“This is our first spring together and if this is what you do in the springtime, and it gives you pleasure, then you need to continue your habit,” Boris said.

“Are you sure? I mean, at first, you seemed to only like it a little bit, and then you said you were getting used to it. Then, you said that you were used to it and even liked it,” Hank reminded Boris.

“I have come to appreciate both ways, Hank. I told you once that I would even like you if you were covered in mud and we proved that was true when we were in St. Lucia, ja?” Boris now reminded Hank.

Hank smiled at that memory, “Yeah; that was a lot of fun…”

“I believe you have made your decision already, my beloved One, however, I greatly appreciate your consideration towards my feelings about it. This is quite charming of you. Now, the question remains: would you prefer Gio to provide you with a proper gentlemen’s shave or I? We are both adept at that technique and you will greatly enjoy the attention to the skin on your face. Choose wisely, my love,” Boris said and as he did so, a wicked smile dawned on his face and he caressed Hank’s bearded cheek with the back of the fingers of his left hand. Boris looked at Hank with intent and his grey/blue eyes appeared almost silver in the bright lighting.

“Oh…” Hank said with a small voice. He had forgotten about Boris’ expertise with shaving and suddenly remembered when he was in the hospital and Boris offered Hank his barbering services, and how that had inadvertently aroused them both, and since Hank was still recuperating from the knife attack, and wasn’t healthy enough to handle what energetic activity usually occurred between the two of them, Boris then offered to go (and did) “…stand over by the window and shut up…” until they both felt less aroused.

When Hank didn’t continue with his sentence, Boris made the current conversation more intense by leaning his head down so that his lips were now at Hank’s right ear and Boris said in a silky voice, “If you allow me to shave you, Hank, I promise that there will be other delights to follow immediately thereafter. And since I know you are not attracted to, nor married, to Gio, what I offer you is a two-for-the-price-of-one pleasure, ja?”

Hank said, “Oh…” Again, and closed his eyes as Boris nibbled on his earlobe, breathed on his neck and held him tighter. Hank suddenly felt like he was going to burst out of his pajama pants and he wanted to push Boris against the Bath Room wall as his mind visualized other forms of pushing. Hank could feel Boris’ hardness against him too, and he momentarily forgot about his beard which had prompted this whole discussion.

Then, the passionate kissing began and continued for a few moments. Hank could have sworn that the lights in the bathroom flickered but then realized that he HAD now pushed Boris up against the wall and Boris’ back was on the light switch and he had flipped the switch with the movement of his body.

Their movements and arduous touching increased their desires and Boris made the light switch go off again with his back; then he slid them slightly sideways, but remained pressed between Hank and the wall, so that the light would stay off and they were now in the darkened Bath Room; Boris whispered again in Hank’s ear, “You either take me now or we move quickly to our bed…”

 

~~~

 

Spring had officially arrived in the Hamptons and one could tell that even beyond what the calendar showed: trees leafed out, flowers bloomed, and Hank no longer wore a beard.

 

The two husbands decided together to enlist Gio to provide the barbering services for Hank to remove his winter beard. 

This was simply based on what happened to the two of them in the Bath Room during and after the discussion about the removal of Hank’s beard. Of course, they didn’t say anything about what happened to anyone and it became one of those charming and silly moments when all Boris and Hank had to do was look at each other, and rub their cheeks and they would smile widely and laugh in the most evil manner. The small bruise on Boris’ back from when Hank pushed Boris up against the light switch took a little while to fade.

They determined that even through Boris was skilled with his straight razor, the potential for arousal was just too great and too fierce, and that that made the situation too dangerous. They also tried to figure out why this was such an erotic topic for them, but had to give up because there was simply no logic to explain it.

 

~~~

 

Gio pronounced Hank’s face properly shaved and Hank ran his fingers over his cheeks, chin and neck and said, “Oh, wow, this is great!”

Hank was sitting in the chair that was usually designated for hair trims and Gio was so skilled that he performed a Premier Gentleman’s Shave on Hank without a true barber’s chair. Gio arrived with all of his portable tools and cases of supplies which included a portable sink, an armload of towels, and a towel warmer.

Gio stood to Hank’s left and held up a large hand mirror so that Hank could look at himself; the lighting was bright in the West Sitting Room where hair trims (and now beard trims and shavings) were held, so Hank had a perfect view.

Boris and Udo were standing off to Hank’s right and in front of him a few feet away; Udo smiled and nodded; Boris was in contemplation stance (arms crossed in front of his chest, one hand smoothing his silver circle beard) and he too smiled in his slight way and nodded.

It had been almost six months since Boris had seen Hank’s face without a beard and he felt like he was looking at Hank for the first time. Boris felt a thrill deep inside and was quite surprised at his own reaction. Boris kept the expression as hidden as he could, but Hank noticed it right away.

“Do you like it, Dr. Hank? Oh, please say that you do!” Gio exclaimed, his hands held in front in a pleading manner; Gio was always very animated.

“I love it, Gio! Thank you so much! My skin has never felt this smooth!” Hank said with enthusiasm and moved his hand over his chin and neck.

“Now, you need to start taking better care of your skin, Dr. Hank. I will leave you with a bottle of the shave cream, the lotion, and the tonic, and use the three of them every day you shave, yes? You are a young man and must start to care for your skin now. Do you like the cinnamon or the spring water scent?” Gio instructed.

“I like the spring water. And sure, Gio, I will do start doing that,” Hank said sincerely and he looked over at Boris and Udo as he still rubbed his neck and chin, “What do you guys think?”

“Simply splendid,” Boris said with admiration in his voice and a glint in his eyes, as he looked at Hank. Boris wished he was Hank’s hand at that moment. Boris then walked over and patted Gio on the back and said, “Gio, you are a maestro.”

“Perfect,” Udo said respectfully, smiled and nodded and moved to assist Gio to pack up his things.

Gio bowed deeply.

Boris put a hand on Hank’s shoulder and inspected Gio’s work more closely; he looked into Hank’s eyes and squinted slightly, then smiled, “Come Hank, we should take a walk, ja?” And he guided Hank to the door way and then they walked down the corridor.

As they passed the Library, Boris said, “Ah! Come with me, Hank, for a moment please?”

They entered the Library and Boris closed the door quickly; Boris moved Hank so that Hank’s back was against the door, Boris stood in front of him, and looked deeply into Hank’s eyes. Boris then took the backs of the fingers on his right hand and gently moved them across Hank’s smooth left cheek, chin, and neck; Boris’ left hand was flat against the door above Hank’s right shoulder, his arm straight and taut; Boris then brought the backs of his fingers across Hank’s other cheek. Their eyes never left each others. Boris sighed deeply and smiled.

Hank smiled and asked, “Yeah, you really like my face this way, don’t you?”

“I must admit to you, Hank, this is the face which I saw when I first fell in love with you all of those years ago; I cannot help it,” Boris said quietly, “Please forgive me if I stare,” He almost asked Hank to also ‘please forgive’ the obvious bulge in his trousers.

“You’re just barely containing yourself right now, aren’t you?” Hank teased and knew he was barely containing himself.

“Ja, and it is painful and exquisite at the same time; good lord, Hank, there must be something wrong with me, that I am so captured by you. You are a doctor, am I ill?” Boris teased back.

“Nothing is wrong with you; you’re in love, simple diagnosis,” Hank sighed and said, “The energy that we’re generating right now could power half of this estate,” And Hank could tell that Boris was ready to break through his control (and his trousers); truth be told, Hank felt that he too could barely hold it together for not much longer and knew that all it would take would be a kiss.

Boris wanted his lips on Hank’s smooth cheek so badly, and he wanted Hank so completely at that moment that he became fearful that he would cause Hank harm. Boris’ expression changed and Hank saw it.

“What’s the matter? Are you okay?” Hank asked quietly and sincerely.

“I...am fine. I feel that...” Boris paused a moment and took a breath as he had been holding it, and this helped to re-center him slightly, “I feel that I should...not give in to this unbridled force. I feel that I must maintain my control...”

“I am not trying to tease you right now, but I have to ask you, Boris, why must you maintain control?” Hank asked with compassion.

“I do not want you to think I am beast, and I do not want to harm you,” Boris said and then took a deep breath, pulled his hand away from the door and stepped back from Hank one step.

“I know the answer, but I want to hear this from you. Is this the force that drove you further into sickness last year? Your longing...for me? Your pent up rage against, uh, the world?” Hank asked as he wanted to bring some spoken-out-loud clarity to their thoughts.

“Most likely, well, yes, I contained that for over four years. I may have, no, I underestimated my strength and it got the better of me,” Boris replied as he stood in front of Hank completely open, honest, and unguarded.

They continued to search each other’s eyes.

Hank asked, “Do you still have the rage?” Hank asked this as Dr. Hank would want to know if his patient was harboring any unhealthy energy.

Boris replied honestly, “No, not any longer. You have helped me to dispel that.”

“What do you think you have now? Lust for the man you love?” Hank asked simply.

“Yes,” Boris answered simply.

“Why would that make you a beast? What’s wrong with that?” Hank wasn’t really expecting an answer to those questions.

“I, eh, would appear undisciplined to you and that you might think I was taking advantage of the situation to satisfy my desire,” Boris answered haltingly; he felt a responsibility to answer all of Hank’s questions.

Hank looked at Boris and almost closed the gap between them so that he could embrace Boris, but instead Hank remained with his back against the door and said, “Look at the control you just exercised, Boris. You stepped back. Do you think you were the only one in this room who almost gave into the lust just now? No, you weren’t; I feel the same way, I have the same exact feelings for you as you do for me. We’re not beasts. We’re lovers, we’re husbands...we’re soul mates.”

Hank let that sink into Boris’ mind for a moment and it was quiet in the Library. The two men still looked at each other with intent. Hank’s left hand had been on the door knob the entire time and he moved his hand now to lock the door. Boris’ eyes flickered from Hank’s eyes to the door knob and back again. Hank now stepped forward towards Boris and they stood face to face again, but they did not touch each other yet.

“Never assume that I don’t want you as badly as you want me, I’ll tell you if I’m not ready,” Hank said firmly and he reached up and held Boris’ face with both hands and drew him into a kiss.

Boris gasped at the sensation of Hank’s lips and now beardless face against his own.

“Do you remember the first time you kissed me?” Hank asked after he pulled back slightly. Their foreheads touched and their eyes were closed.

“Ja, I do; I shall always remember that moment,” Boris said quietly.

“So will I, come here,” Hank said in a hushed voice as he stepped away but not before he grabbed Boris’ upper arm and they walked around the back of the couch to the front of it.

They faced each other again and Boris took Hank’s face with both of his hands and pulled him into a tender kiss which brought out a deep hum from Boris’ throat. Boris gently moved his lips across Hank’s smooth cheek and he smelled the lotion and the tonic that Gio had smoothed there after the shaving. Boris breathed in as he took Hank’s earlobe in his lips for a moment, moaned and then he whispered, “Oh, good lord, Hank, I love you with all of my essence...” 

Hank wrapped his arms around Boris’ torso and pulled Boris against him and then said, “Undress me, Boris, right now.”

Boris did as he was asked and he placed Hank’s clothing neatly on a side chair.

Hank then began to undress Boris just as he opened his mouth to ask. Hank placed Boris’ clothes aside in the same way. 

They stood there, naked, holding onto one another and caressing each other with increasingly stronger movements. There was the smoothness of their skin, and the softness of the hair on their bodies, and the firmness of their masculinity, all in the right places against one another and they lowered themselves onto the couch. 

Hank looked up at Boris as he lay on the couch and said quietly, “Whatever you want of me, Boris, it is yours, always.”

“H-hank...” Boris whispered as he lowered himself down to Hank and lost himself within Hank.

 

~~~

 

“And, where are we going again?” Boris asked Hank with curiosity as they stood outside in front of the entrance doorway to Shadow Pond and awaited their escort vehicles to be brought around from the garage.

“We’re going to a little place I know in Southampton called The Coast Grill,” Hank said happily.

It was one of the first beautiful and warm spring days that stayed comfortably warm into the evening in the Hamptons and Hank could not resist taking Boris for a ride in the Vantage with the top down. It was in the late afternoon and Hank wanted to have a sunset dinner with Boris at a restaurant on the one of the many waterfront locations which was prevalent throughout the Hamptons’ waterways, inlets, and beaches.

“Huh, a ‘grill’; how provincial,” Boris replied without judgment.

“Yeah, I just thought it would be nice for us to get out and have a simple meal, some wine, and watch the sunset. You’re okay with this, right?” Hank asked.

“Ja, of course, did you say that you had frequented this establishment often?” Boris asked.

“I did. It’s got great American-style seafood and its right on the water. We’ll get there just before sunset and it’ll be nice,” Hank said cheerfully.

 

As they pulled out of the drive in the Vantage with SUV1 in front and SUV2 behind them, Hank said to Boris, “Now this is not a fancy place...”

“This is fine, Hank, I enjoy it when you take me places that you used to visit before you and I became us. Goodness knows that I have taken you many places which I have been to from before that time as well, ja?” Boris said lightly and he felt amused that Hank was trying so hard to sell this place to him. Boris enjoyed the wind in his hair and he looked over at Hank as he drove them and saw that Hank was happy; Boris felt pleased because of that and sighed deeply.

 

They were seated at a table on the corner of the dock outside overlooking the waterfront. Khalil had sent five of his team, plus Udo, to watch over them and they were all seated at a two tables nearby, but not close – as always.

Hank told them enthusiastically, “Hey guys, please order some dinner for yourselves, too; the fried calamari is great here.”

Their server was friendly and his name was Chad and he actually remembered Hank, “Where have you been Dr. Hank? I haven’t seen you in like forever.”

Hank looked at Boris and then looked at and said to Chad, “I’ve been busy with work and life, you know how it gets.”

“Yeah, Doc, I do, hey, it’s good to see you again. Well, welcome both of you to The Coast Grill. I don’t think we’ve met,” Chad said and smiled at Boris.

“I am pleased to meet you as well,” Boris said graciously as he watched Chad.

Young Chad then said, “So, are you Dr. Hank’s uncle?”

Hank worked really hard to keep from laughing and put his hand to his forehead.

Boris narrowed his eyes at Chad and debated in his head how he should respond; Boris was torn between his usual reserved, ultra-private self and wanted to say, ‘that’s none of your business, young man’, and his newer more open self; he then decided that Chad was not anyone of major importance to them as there would always be someone available to bring them their dinner, and started to say something somewhere in between when...

Hank interrupted him and replied, “Um, Chad, no, he is NOT my uncle, he is my husband,” And Hank said this with pride in his voice, his eyes bright and his chin held high, “Chad meet Boris; Boris, this is Chad.”

Boris smiled at Hank and then looked up and continued to watch Chad’s expression change to horror, and this became quite comical to him.

“Hello, Chad,” Boris said lightly and with a wicked grin on his lips.

“Oh, shit, I mean, oh, hello, sir, uh, that’s terrific! Hey, I’m really sorry about the uncle reference, uh, sir, um...well, uh, here are your menus, please take a moment to read them over. I’ll be back with your waters and a bread basket...uh, and here’s the wine list, too,” Chad said all of this with so much nervousness that he started to walk away from them without leaving the menus, turned back around, peeled them away from where he clutched them to his chest, smiled sheepishly, placed the menus on the table carefully as if they would break and said, “And then I’ll tell you about the specials we have tonight, okay?” Then Chad walked away very quickly.

Boris chuckled and Hank shook his head.

Hank then said with a laugh, “Well, at least he didn’t call you my father!”

Boris laughed out loud at that comment and they picked up the menus.

“Ah, classic American fare, I see...” Boris said as he squinted hard and scanned the menu at full arm’s length in front of him, “Hmmm, choose something for me Hank, you know what I like,” Boris had trouble reading the small print of the menu in the fading light and had discovered that he had left his reading glasses on top of his current reading book, which was on his nightstand. He closed the menu book and placed it back on the table.

“You didn’t bring your glasses?” Hank asked as he continued to read the menu.

“No, I did not, this impromptu excursion...” Boris admitted quietly.

“It’s okay, let’s see,” Hank began to read off parts of the menu.

“Nothing heavy or fried please, Hank; is that what American fare is most like these days? You know how that heavy food sits poorly with me, eh, perhaps just the salad with grilled salmon on it, ja, that might be nice,” Boris suggested politely.

Then Hank picked up the wine list and frowned.

Boris asked, “Is there a problem?”

“I think a white wine would be perfect tonight, but I don’t see anything that I think we would like, uh, oh wait, they have a dry Riesling from the New York Finger Lakes region, that might be nice and not too sweet,” Hank said.

Boris smiled at Hank fondly as he was proud of Hank’s growing expertise with food and wines. It made Boris immensely happy that Hank not only tolerated Boris’ complicated culinary expectations, tastes, and habits, but Hank seemed to enjoy the education he received as well. Boris had not set out to change Hank in any way, but Hank appeared to just absorb everything happily as if he had been just waiting for all of it to come his way.

 

Chad recovered well as he served them throughout the course of the meal; he finally stopped apologizing after Boris had suggested to him that it wasn’t becoming for a nice young man such as himself to grovel so much, and assured Chad that Boris took no offense with his comment and had accepted his rather stuttered apology. Hank thought that this was the funniest thing to happen in a while and enjoyed it immensely.

 

After they shared an appetizer of Prince Edward Island Mussels in a White Wine Sauce, Hank looked back in from where he looked out over the waterway, and around and saw a blonde woman wave at him from across the restaurant. 

Hank said, “Oh, boy.”

Boris asked, “Are you all right, Hank, you seem disturbed. Did the mussels not agree with you?”

“No, I’m fine, the mussels were great, but there’s a woman over there waving at me who I dated a while back. Oh crap, what IS her name? Oh, she is a piece of work. Terrific, now she’s coming over to us,” Hank said nervously.

The blonde woman sauntered over to their table and smiled in a seductive fashion; she wore a long, loudly floral-patterned skirt and a tank top and lots of gaudy jewelry, “Hank, dear? Don’t you remember me? I’m Jean,” She placed her hand on Hank’s upper arm.

“Oh, yeah. Uh, Jean! Hi, how are you?” Hank said with a cautious grin as he and Boris stood up from their chairs.

“I’m just fine, my darling; it’s been an awfully long time. Where HAVE you been hiding yourself, lately?” Jean asked in a slow arrogant voice and kissed Hank on the cheek.

“Well, I’ve been kinda busy, work and life, you know,” Hank said evasively and nodded his head with a grimace that he was trying to make look like a polite smile.

“I’ve always told you, Hank, that work shouldn’t ever get in the way of life, but you never listened to me. You always went off to care for your patients. So, aren’t you going to introduce me to this tall-drink-of-water you’re dining with?” Jean said plainly, motioned the fingers of her hand in the air as if impatiently swatting away a flying insect, as she turned towards Boris and slowly surveyed him approvingly from his feet to his face. She pursed her lips when their eyes met.

Boris blinked slowly at her and lifted his chin as if preparing for a battle.

“Uh, yeah,” Hank remembered painfully now why he had stopped dating Jean after one and a quarter dates; Hank stood up taller and replied, “Jean, I’d like you to meet my husband, Boris. Boris...this is Jean.”

Boris took Jean’s hand that she automatically proffered and said, “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Jean,” And he lightly kissed the back of her hand and watched her with steel grey eyes.

“Oooh, how European of you. Boris is your name, very international. Do I detect an accent? Perhaps you are from Belgium?” Jean cooed.

“No, my lady, I am from Germany,” Boris replied plainly and now understood Hank’s ‘piece of work’ description.

“Even better, I adore Germany and have been there many times. Hank darling, just where did you find Boris? Would you consider sharing him with me?” Jean asked as she looked Boris up and down again with her reptilian-like hazel eyes and nodded her head in approval.

“Well, that’s a lot more blunt than your usual manner, Jean; are you going for the jugular right at the beginning now these days instead of waiting until you’ve trapped someone?” Hank was completely annoyed with Jean at this point and wanted the conversation to end, “I have to tell you, Jean, but I don’t think you heard me say that Boris...is...my...husband. I don’t plan on sharing Boris with anyone...” Hank looked down for a moment and saw the empty mussels appetizer bowl, “He’s not......an appetizer. I really don’t think that your question is very polite. You should apologize.”

“Oh Hank, you should remember that I believe that the institution of marriage is ridiculous and frivolous and that we are all here in this retched life to simply enjoy each other and enjoy life,” Jean stated plainly as she still looked at Boris.

Boris thought of three different responses to her statement and they were not terribly polite responses.

“Yeah, I never agreed with you on that, Jean,” Hank said flatly and he looked over to see Chad begin to walk over towards them with their dinner plates, “So, our dinner is coming and I just want to say...good night, Jean, have a nice life.”

Jean tore her eyes from Boris and looked at Hank with a smoldering gaze, “Oooh, the formal brush off, how brusque of you darling; you seem to have grown some cojones since we last met. Good for you, because the ones you had were too timid for me anyway.”

“You know, Jean, if you would learn some compassion and exercise more respect for others and their lives and their wishes, you might not be as unhappy as you are right now...but I’m not sure you’re capable of learning how to be a true human being. Good night, Jean,” Hank said firmly as he stared at her with knitted eyebrows and then tilted his head as if to say ‘you can leave now’.

Jean turned slightly to begin to walk away (which actually took her a step closer to Boris), looked at Hank with a long slow movement of her heavy false eyelashes and then turned her head and looked up at Boris; she ran a long, French-manicured nail slowly down the lapel of his jacket and held (and tugged on) the bottom of the lapel between her finger and thumb and said slowly, “Well, Germany, if you ever tire of Mr. Compassion over there, look me up; I’m certain we’d have a lot to...talk...about; Auf Wiedersehen, darlings.”

Hank’s eyes were dark, his eyebrows knitted tightly, and he stood there with an angry look on his face as he watched her walk slowly and sensuously away from them waving a bored hand in the air. He was seething inside.

Boris reached over and touched Hank’s arm lightly which broke Hank’s negative mood; Hank looked over at Boris to see him smiling slightly; Boris said quietly, “It is all right, Hank, she is not worth the energy. Please, sit down, and try to relax, our dinner is here.”

Hank nodded and they both sat down as Chad walked up and set their plates in front of them.

“Enjoy your dinners, gentlemen,” Chad said sincerely, picked up the appetizer bowl and left.

“I am so sorry about that, Boris; ah! I don’t know what I ever saw in her,” Hank said with exasperation.

“She is a beautiful woman, Hank, you would most likely be dead if you did not notice that; it is a shame though that she is so venomous, false, selfish and unhappy. Did I miss anything?” Boris stated.

“Nope, you pegged her right on,” Hank shook his head and looked at their dinners, “Well, this looks nice.”

“Ja, indeed,” Boris said lightly as he admired the grilled salmon.

 

Just as Chad brought them their coffee and dessert, Caramelized Rum Bananas for Hank and Berries and Cream for Boris, a pretty, brown-haired woman in a short purple dress came up to the table and asked, “Hank? Is that you?” Her long hair brushed the edge of their table as she leaned over to get a better look at Hank who was looking down at his dessert.

Boris and Hank stood up from their chairs again, and Hank said, “Carla? Yeah, hi, how have you been?”

“Yes! Oh my god, it’s so good to see you again!” Carla said enthusiastically and she hugged Hank with a lot of energy and pressed most of herself against Hank.

Hank hugged her lightly back and looked at Boris who tilted his head and smiled slightly.

Boris saw their security team’s level of attention change and made the hand motion to stand down.

Then, Carla grabbed Hank’s face, turned his head towards her and kissed Hank full on the mouth with also a lot of energy.

“Uh...Carla, please!” Hank said and pulled her away from himself and held her at arm’s length for a moment and then released his hands.

Boris’ hand motion remained visible to the team.

“I’m just so excited to see you! Where have you been? I’m missed you and you haven’t called me in a very long time! What’s with you?” Carla said as she shifted from happiness to disappointment to curiosity and said it all with a pout.

Boris stood there and watched with amusement.

“Well, Carla, I’ve been very busy, you know, my medical practice is going well, and I moved and I got married, you know,” Hank said cheerfully but he was very embarrassed.

“What?! You got married! Well, I guess I have to offer congratulations to you, although I wish it had been me,” Carla laughed, “Who’s the lucky girl? Would I know her? You know I know a lot of people around here.”

“Well...” Hank said calmly and turned to look at Boris, held out one open hand towards Boris and said proudly, “This is my husband, Boris. Boris, please meet Carla, she and I used to...know each other a few years ago.”

Boris reached out and took Carla’s hand and said, “I am charmed to make your acquaintance, Carla,” And he lightly kissed the back of her hand, met her gaze and smiled as a gentleman would.

“Oh my, uh, yes, I’m happy to meet you as well, Boris,” Carla said with a shake to her voice. Carla turned to look at Hank as Boris released her hand and said, “I’m sorry to have interrupted your dinner.”

Boris asked graciously, “Would you care to join us, Carla? We have only just started dessert and coffee and I am certain that our man Chad can accommodate you at our table.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay, really; thank you for the kind offer,” Carla said nervously and almost curtsied, “Well, I should go and finish my dinner...I’m here with my folks. Thank you again. It was nice to meet you, Boris...and good to see you again, Hank. Congratulations...really.”

“Thanks, Carla, nice to see you, too,” Hank said with a smile.

“Good evening, Carla,” Boris replied with a polite expression.

Carla looked at Hank one more time, smiled sweetly but in a somewhat nervous way, turned and walked quickly away.

Boris and Hank looked at each other and sat down again; they both took a drink of their coffees.

“This is turning out to be a most interesting of evenings, Hank; you take me to all of the best places,” Boris said with a teasing sound to his voice.

Hank smiled and put his hand to his forehead and shook his head, “We are never EVER coming back here.”

 

They had just climbed into bed and were getting settled in when Boris asked with a teasing tone, “So, Hank, who is better at kissing you, Carla or I?”

Hank took a pillow and hit Boris in the chest with it.

That action prompted Boris to push the pillow aside and move forward towards Hank quickly, who was kneeling on the bed but upright from his hips. Boris grabbed Hank’s shoulders with both hands and forced Hank onto his back on the bed, his legs straightened outward. Boris than sat on Hank at his lower pelvic area with his legs on either side of Hank’s hips, knees bent, and now both of his hands, hands spread wide were on Hank’s chest and he looked down at his husband and smiled. They were now diagonal on the bed.

“You did not answer my question,” Boris said calmly with a smug look on his face.

“It’s such a nice view from down here,” Hank mused, and smiled widely as he wiggled his hips under Boris’ body, “And I really like how this feels.”

Boris lowered himself onto Hank and kissed him roughly. For a moment, Hank matched the roughness and then took that opportunity to push Boris to the right and quickly rolled Boris over onto his back so that Hank was on top of Boris now in the same position that Boris was in a moment before. Their heads were now in the corner of their bed which was next to Hank’s nightstand.

“Are you jealous of Carla kissing me?” Hank asked with a teasing tone.

Boris looked up at Hank and replied simply, “No, I merely want to be certain that my skills at osculation are still appropriate and pleasing to you.”

“There you go, using Latin on me again...” Hank had started to say, but...

Boris had sensed Hank relax his muscles a bit and took the opportunity to sit up, push Hank onto his back with his two hands on Hank’s chest, which made his knees and legs straighten, and this time, Boris also quickly turned Hank onto his left side and from behind Hank, Boris used his arms and legs and wrapped both sets of limbs around Hank completely – Boris’ arms grasping Hank’s chest and arms, Boris’ legs around Hank’s legs. Their heads were at the foot of the bed now.

Boris’ face was in Hank’s hair at the back of his head, he breathed in, enjoyed the scent of Hank’s hair and said in a silky voice, “This is a good deal of fun, my beloved One, but you have not yet answered my question.”

Hank could feel that Boris’ ‘good deal of fun’ had become a good deal of a firm bulge at his backside and Hank’s own body responded; he looked downward at himself over Boris’ arms, which were wrapped around Hank’s chest and arms, and saw happily that his pajama pants had taken on a new shape in front.

“If I tell you that you are a better kisser than Carla is, will you do something serious with that ‘good deal of fun’ you have pushing against me from back there?” Hank asked with a tease.

Boris released Hank and rolled him onto his belly; Boris started to undress Hank by tugging at his sleep clothes, pants first, and teased back calmly, “I am attempting to do something serious to you now even if you told me something to contrary. Stop fighting me; do you want this or not?”

Hank buried his face and laughed into the bed as Boris finally succeeded in removing all of Hank’s clothing even though Hank had made it playfully difficult to do so. Boris had somehow managed to keep Hank pinned to the bed even through the removal of Hank’s sleep shirt.

Boris then sat on Hank’s thighs with his legs on either side of him with his knees bent as Boris continued to pin him to the bed. The view of Hank’s bare muscular back and curved backside thrilled Boris to his core. Boris quickly unbuttoned and removed his silk pajama shirt and threw it in the direction he had thrown Hank’s sleep clothes in, which was on the floor.

Hank turned his head to see Boris out of the corner of his eye and with a smile teased, “Almost there, Boris...”

Boris leaned over and adjusted his body so that he could keep Hank face down on the bed and thus remove his silk pajama trousers as the same time, and had to navigate the trousers around his now painfully firm masculinity; and with his smiling lips to Hank’s ear, he teased back, “You are utterly delicious, Hank, yet you have refused to answered my question, so you shall have to pay for that transgression.”

Boris moved again and Hank could now feel on his body that Boris was ready to do that ‘something serious’ to him with Boris’ body and replied, “Of course, you’re the better kisser, Boris, you know what I...ooohhh...wow!”

 

~~~

 

Shortly after they had returned home and Boris finished his marathon sleep session, Boris contacted his Lady Aunt Marta to notify her that they had returned to America and were both safely home at Shadow Pond. She asked why he had waited so long to contact her, as she did worry a bit, and he apologized sincerely and admitted that they had stopped in Paris for two days and that afterwards he needed to recuperate from the travel. Boris felt odd in sharing this with his Aunt, but then remembered that things were so different now between he and his Russian family; and they were very different in a very good way.

Marta told Boris that she missed both of them, asked about Hank, and if they enjoyed Paris, to which Boris replied that Hank was doing splendidly as always, they missed her as well, and that Paris was a delight to them both; he mentioned that it was Hank’s first time in Paris. Boris learned that Paris was also a favorite place of Marta’s to visit and she, too, always stayed at the Ritz Paris Hotel.

They talked at length about the visit and agreed that it was the best thing to happen to them all in a very long time; they talked about both of Boris’ Uncles, and Marta said that Stanislav was still upset that he didn’t get to personally witness the situation about Hank and the cookies. Boris asked why and Marta said that Stanislav had wanted to see Boris smile. Boris had replied, “Hmmm, I am sorry that he is sad,” But what Boris thought was that Stanislav was not one of the people in the world whom he wanted to smile in front of. That lead to a discussion about the Pastila and Marta openly and happily reminisced about Hank’s enjoyment over the Russian tea cookies.

Boris then asked Marta if she thought their chef would be willing to share the family recipe of the Pastila with him so that he could give it to their chef so that he could make the cookies for Hank. She said that she would get the recipe and send it to Boris and thought it was a wonderful idea; Marta had said, “Whenever you eat the cookies at home, you can remember us. Oh, and please tell me if Hank likes them, I should like for him to be happy. Make sure you eat some too, Nephew.”

Marta asked Boris if he would be willing to contact her now on a regular basis, just for a chat, and he readily agreed. They arranged for Boris to call his Aunt every two to three weeks and they both hung up the phone with smiles on their faces.

 

~~~

 

The Pastila recipe arrived in Boris’ email inbox the next day. It was written in Russian and so he rewrote it into French and English for Chef Henri and his team and Boris walked down to the Kitchen that afternoon to deliver the recipe.

“Bonjour Chef!” Boris said enthusiastically as he walked into Chef’s office. 

“Bonjour Maîtriser, what may I do for you today?” Henri replied.

Boris handed the hand-written recipe to Chef and asked, “This is an old Ratenicz family recipe for the Pastila, would you be so kind as to create this for Hank the next time you make him cookies? He enjoyed these cookies immensely when we were in Russia and I should like for you to add this to the repertoire of cookies that you make for him, ja?”

“But of course, Sir, marvelous! I will make it with sugar to give it that true imperial texture, oui?” Henri was excited.

“Oui, tres bien, Chef; merci beaucoupe,” Boris nodded and patted Chef on the shoulder as he left the office.

 

~~~

 

A week later, it was time for the men’s three p.m. coffee service and since it was perfect outside, they took their afternoon break at the seating and dining area which had been returned to the upper lawn between the house and upper level of the Formal Gardens. The black wrought iron patio furniture had been removed from winter storage, refreshed and set up and they sat at the table and looked out over the gardens. 

 

Hank had talked about how he much liked the hut they had when they were in St. Lucia, he specifically enjoyed having a type of lower roof over their heads. Hank sometimes felt he would never get used to the vaulted ceilings inside the Shadow Pond house. They had Gregor, and his team, install two large, side-mounted umbrellas: one over the outdoor seating area and one over the outdoor dining area. 

As they watched the installation, Hank said, “You know, Boris, this will make it way more comfortable to sit out here when the summer comes. Some of those hot summer days here are brutal. I just don’t know how you would sit in the direct sun, in your suit, and eat your meals out here.”

Boris replied, “At least I was not cold.”

 

That afternoon, Udo prepared their coffees and snacks and with instruction from Boris, Udo had brought with him the special envelope.

“This is splendid, Hank, to be outside once again, do you not agree?” Boris said happily; he was also happy because he knew that Pastila was being served that day and it just happened to coincide with a special occasion and was pleased to present both as a surprise to Hank.

“Yeah! This is really nice. I love the umbrellas, too,” Hank said cheerfully as he looked up at them.

Udo served them their coffees and brought the covered tray and set it on the table between them.

“What’s our snack today, Udo?” Hank asked as this was a different set-up than usual.

Udo removed the cover and on the tray sat an array of different colored Pastila cookies arranged on the tray in a geometric design.

“Hey! These are those Russian cookies we had at the Elders’ house, this is great!” Hank said with joy.

Boris smiled and said, “These are made from the actual Ratenicz family recipe, Hank. Since you enjoyed them so much, I asked Aunt Marta to send the recipe to us so that Chef Henri could make them from time to time for you.”

“Really? For me? You asked your Aunt for the recipe? Look at you! Oh, gees, that’s awesome, Boris,” Hank was amazed and felt joy inside for his husband.

Boris smiled as he was very pleased with everything at the moment, “There is a history behind these cookies, Hank. They were considered an expensive treat in Imperial Russia, which was from 1721 to 1917. They were traditionally produced at a nobleman’s manor by serf labor and could cost as much as a ruble and a half each. Chef Henri made these the traditional imperial way with sugar instead of honey. The fruit paste is cooked for two days under steadily diminishing heat.”

Hank took a bite of one of them and he rolled his eyes with delight, “Aw, I love these cookies. These...are...amazing. These are just too good to share with Evan.”

Boris said, “I had a pleasant conversation last week with Aunt Marta and she asked how you are and if you enjoyed Paris.”

“You told her that we went to Paris?” Hank asked with surprise.

“Ja, well, I had to explain the reason, and apologize, why I was late to contact her that we had arrived home safely; she was worried about us, and er, I explained that we spent time in Paris before going home and then I needed time at home to recover from the travels, and then we were busy; I promised that I would call her when we got home. She has forgiven me.” Boris admitted.

Hank smiled and took a sip of coffee.

“What, Hank? Why do you smile?” Boris asked simply.

“You should see yourself right now; you are SO not used to having a normal family to communicate with that you’re like a little boy explaining your actions to the grown-ups; this is just fantastic. Your world has changed so much, Boris,” Hank said with wonder.

Boris looked around the Upper Lawn, tried to be stoic, and replied, “Quite.”

Hank smiled again because Boris was ‘unfairly adorable’ to him at the moment.

“Aunt Marta and I shall be talking on a regular basis now and she asked if you could be part of the conversation as well. She said she would like to hear your voice and tell her about what you are doing; I hope you would be agreeable to that, Hank,” Boris asked politely.

“Sure, of course, she’s my Aunt, too, now. What about, um, our Uncles?” Hank said.

“She said that if they are available, they may join in on the conversation with us; most likely Uncle Vasily will converse with us as he is at Monument House most days; Uncle Stanislav practically lives at his bank,” Boris stated.

“This is so amazing that your family situation has come so far and is so positive now,” Hank said with amazement.

Boris took a small bite of one of the Pastila and then a sip of coffee, he said, “Quite.”

“Aw, come on, Boris, this has got to warrant more than just a ‘quite’ from you!” Hank said.

“Ja, however, I am still attempting to grow accustomed to this, Hank, I simply cannot turn off decades of what had happened,” Boris replied with a little frustration and his eyebrows knitted together.

“I get it, Boris, I’m sorry, and I’m not trying to force you into thinking or feeling anything that you’re not ready for. I’m just excited for you, that’s all,” Hank said in a way he hoped Boris would think was comforting.

Hank ate another cookie and said, “So, these cookies took a lot of work to make back then; that would mean they are special and might be eaten on special occasions, right?”

“Indeed, Hank, and...” Boris paused and held up his hand for Udo to bring him the envelope, “Thank you, Udo.”

Udo had walked over to Boris and handed him the envelope, he bowed slightly and left them to their privacy.

“And...” Hank prompted and suddenly felt anxious – but in a good way.

“And, today is a special day, Hank,” Boris said with a fond expression on his face and with that slight smile that was all his own.

“What’s the special occasion? Our anniversary is not for another few months,” Hank said with curiosity and wondered what Boris had been up to.

Boris handed the envelope to Hank and took his Cartier pen out of the breast pocket of his suit jacket, placed it on the table between them and said, “Go ahead, Hank, open the envelope and read the papers inside.”

As Hank did this, Boris said, “Diane and her team have officially and legally prepared the paperwork to add our names to each other’s names and all we need to do is sign these papers and return them to her.”

Hank’s mouth fell open as he read the papers, he smiled widely, and then looked at Boris, who sat there and looked at Hank with a calm yet eager expression. Hank saw that Boris had already signed the papers. Hank wasted no time and quickly picked up the pen and signed his name.

They smiled at each other as Boris picked up his coffee cup to make a toast; Hank raised his cup as well.

“To completeness,” Boris said proudly.

Hank said with equal pride, “And to having four last names and two hyphens!”

They chuckled, touched cups, and sipped.

~~~

 

“Hank, I know we must honor this, but I am now not certain about this situation,” Boris said with a great deal of trepidation.

“We’ll be fine, trust me, it’s just mini-golf, Boris,” Hank assured Boris.

Hank decided to utilize Evan’s Christmas gift of the miniature golf coupons and talked Boris into going one afternoon, but now that they sat in the parking lot of the establishment, in Hank’s Vantage, Boris wasn’t so sure.

Boris certainly enjoyed the drive over with the top down, but kept thinking about the look on Khalil’s and Udo’s faces when Hank requested the excursion and he became a little apprehensive. Now, as they sat and looked towards all of the activity with all of the people milling about, he wondered about everything.

Hank started to get out of the car and said cheerfully, “Come on, Boris, this will be fun. Do you want to make a bet on what the loser will have to do?” Hank thought that if he appealed to Boris’ competitive side, he could help Boris ease his tension. Hank was actually quite happy to be there; the drive over to East Hampton had been pleasant, it was a beautiful spring day and he and Boris were out doing something together.

Boris got out of the car, thought that he would rather be on the beach with Hank at the moment, and replied, “As long as I can have a cigar and a double port after we return home, I will...play this miniature game of golf with you, Hank,” Boris looked at his cane in the back seat and wondered briefly if he should take it with him. Then, he thought he would have to carry the cane and a golf club and that image began to look ridiculous to him.

So that they wouldn’t attract too much attention, only Udo, Yussef, and Anton shadowed them; Richard, and Misha stayed with the cars and watched from a distance.

The young woman at the counter was perky and took their tickets with a big smile, handed them a tiny pencil (which looked like the size of a paper clip to Boris), a score card, two golf balls and two clubs and said, “May the best man win! Oh! I just noticed that these tickets have stubs which include a beverage, would you like a soda or something?”

“No, thank you,” Boris replied flatly.

Hank said, “Uh, please give the beverage coupons to the next customer, okay?”

“Okay!” She said with her cheerleader voice that made Boris cringe and he turned away so she wouldn’t see his expression.

Boris touched the handle of his golf club like it was coated in something he didn’t want to touch and then just gave up. He did speak a rhetorical question to no one in particular, “Why is this handle...sticky?”

It was a typical 18-hole miniature golf course with all of the ridiculous arrangements that were designed to make it a challenge to get the golf ball into one cup at each hole and then you can move on to the next hole; the theme of the course was pseudo-Medieval, so there were dragons, knights in armor, castles, and drawbridges.

As Boris and Hank stood at Hole 1, Boris quipped, “I should have brought a flask filled with the vodka; it may have helped to make this...more tolerable.”

Hank laughed, “Yeah, Boris, you should have, and that would have leveled the playing field. I know I am going to lose; you’re the marksman here and I suppose that skill translates to golf as well.”

“Aim and shoot, it is all the same, Hank,” Boris said flatly.

Hank stood in front of Boris before they started; he looked up at him and quietly said, “Please try to have fun, Boris, it’s just mini golf. At least we’re together, right?”

Boris first looked around the area, his chin up and lips tight, and then looked down at Hank’s smiling face, drank in his blue eyes which were bright in the sunlight and replied, “All right, Hank, you are right. Besides, we shall need a good story to tell Evan, ja? I am certain that he will ask about our ‘experience’ here.”

Hank smiled even more widely and then prepared his shot. Boris looked over at Udo, Yussef, and Anton and just shook his head slightly – Udo read: ‘Oh good lord,’ and Yussef read: ‘Why am I here?’ and Anton thought, “The Master is not happy right now.’

By Hole 4, Boris had loosened up a little bit because he decided to focus on Hank, who was actually have a good time. Hank enjoyed watching Boris try to figure out the mechanics of the course and the individual holes and was amused when Boris started to launch into a discussion about the engineering of golf courses and then that conversation turned into the history of the game of golf.

Boris would make comments to Hank, as they moved from hole to hole, such as: “Why would one castle have elements of Germanic, English, and Spanish architecture on it?” and, “That suit of armor would be unreasonably immobile to wear; do they not know that it cannot be solid?” and, “Oh, Hank, that drawbridge would collapse under its own weight with the way it is designed.”

Hank quickly began to enjoy Boris being baffled by everything he saw on the course, even though he was losing to Boris in the worse way during the first nine holes. The second nine holes were a different story. With the combination of Boris’ continued confusion over the inaccuracies of imagery, which distracted Boris, along with the last nine holes of the course that became increasingly more complex, Hank actually began to show more positively on the score card.

At one point, Boris stopped and looked at Hank and said, “They are playing the same Celtic music over and over again, Hank. There was other music performed during the medieval era...”

Hank burst out laughing.

On the 18th, and last, hole, a large statue of a brightly colored dragon stood before them. The trick was to get the golf ball into the open palm (and hole) of the dragon’s front right ‘claw’; and when one did that, fire would emit from the dragon’s mouth. The dragon’s head faced towards where a golfer would be standing in front of it and it was angled at a height that would blow hot air towards the golfer. The flame was minor compared to the blast of hot air, but in a moment, the unsuspecting golfer wouldn’t know any better...Safety First.

It was the most difficult hole on the course because the long curled fingers of the dragon’s hand/claw were arranged to make it more challenging to get the ball into the hole – which triggered the flame and hot air blast. Hank went first and although it was a par four, Hank sunk the golf ball in five strokes and got blasted by the hot air.

Boris had seen what the dragon did to golfers who had gotten to that hole before them; Boris didn’t tell Hank that he witnessed this, and had decided that he was not going to get blasted by the hot air. So, he pretended to line up his shot, paused, looked at Hank and smiled wickedly. Then, Boris picked up his golf ball and walked quickly over to the dragon, crouched down and placed the ball calmly into the hole as the blast of hot air spewed forth above him and did not touch him.

“What a minute!” Hank cried, “You cheated!”

“No, Hank, I am just being creative, ja?” Boris said proudly.

 

Later that evening, the two men enjoyed time out on the Meditation Terrace. All of the ivory-toned matching, inlaid furniture, lanterns and bonsai trees (including the two new ones) had been set out on the terrace and the scene was serene as it always was.

Hank decided to join Boris in that they both smoked cigars that evening which pleased Boris in the best way. They sat quietly and each enjoyed the time as they puffed on the Montecristos and drank from snifters of the 1961 vintage of port wine they had purchased on their visit to Portugal last year, the bottle was newly opened that evening. The lanterns cast a friendly, flickering amber glow upon the terrace. The air was just starting to cool with a fresh light breeze that blew in from the east.

Boris was deep in thought about the next sets of their travel plans for them and was working through some of that in his mind.

Hank thought about their day at the mini-golf and was very happy that he coaxed Boris out of the house, didn’t mind that he didn’t win the game, and was relieved that they did not run into anyone that he knew while they were there.

“What are you thinking about, Boris?” Hank asked and took a sip of the port wine.

Boris took a puff on his cigar and replied, “Hmmm? Ja, travel.”

“Oh? I’m almost afraid to ask...where,” Hank said.

“Hmmm...only...six different places...” Boris said slowly as he was in the process of thinking.

“Six?! At the same time?” Hank exclaimed.

“What? Oh, heavens no, Hank. Even I know that I could never get you to agree to a trip with that many different locations, at least not anymore, er, especially when you learn which six locations that I am thinking about are located. No, I was thinking about the entire year before us and what would be feasible and what would not be,” Boris said plainly.

“Well, we both know that your version of feasible is much different than my version,” Hank replied.

“Ja, indeed,” Boris said and puffed again. He looked at the cigar which he held between his right thumb and pointer and index fingers; he rolled the cigar slightly one way and then the other between the digits, and continued to think.

“So, are you going to share with me what you’re thinking, I mean, where you’re thinking we could go?” Hank asked with some concern.

Boris looked at Hank for a moment but didn’t really see him, his mind was too busy; and then, he shook his head and said, “I apologize, Hank, for not being as attentive at the moment as I should be; you know what happens when there is...”

“Ha! Yeah, too much up there!” Hank said happily as he reached over and touched his finger to Boris’ temple and started to laugh.

“What is so funny?” Boris asked, now curious and he took a sip of the port.

“I just had this funny thought that I would come home from work one day and find parts of your brain all over the place because you had too much on your mind and it blew up, and then both you and Udo would be trying to clean it up and fit it all back in your head,” Hank continued to laugh.

Boris took a puff and then pointed his cigar at Hank (to make his point) and replied with all seriousness, “You truly should stop watching the films of fictional science, Hank; you already have as fertile of an imagination as I do and it would appear that you do not need more encouragement, ja?”

Hank chuckled, “Yeah, I remember what happened when we watched ‘Fifth Element’ – that was a little more than you could handle!”

“Do not remind me, Hank! The image of the blue-skinned diva who sang the opera haunted me for days!” Boris said with a chuckle.

“So, seriously,” Hank took a sip of the port and then continued, “Are you going to share with me what your ideas are?”

“I must first ask you if you have a desire to travel to anywhere,” Boris offered.

“Good question...I wouldn’t mind going back to New York for another long weekend; we never did get to take our walk in Central Park last time and it would also be nice to have dinner and a show on Broadway. That’s really the only thing that pops into my head right now,” Hank said thoughtfully.

“Huh, that is one of the trips I had thought about as well and...” Boris then stared at one of the lanterns and puffed on his cigar deep in thought.

Hank watched Boris think for a few moments and enjoyed his own cigar and port as he did so.

Boris suddenly finished his sentence, “...so we should make that our next trip, ja?”

Hank started slightly at the suddenness of Boris comment and then said, “Sure, sounds nice, let’s see what’s being performed first and build the trip around that.”

“Of course...I do so enjoy meals out on our Penthouse terrace,” Boris replied.

“And after that?” Hank prompted; he was so curious now and Boris’ delay to describe his thoughts was exciting and frustrating at the same time.

“Well, please understand Hank that I cannot tell you where I shall be taking you for your birthday, nor can I tell you where we are going for our anniversary, it would not be a surprise, ja?” Boris said plainly as if Hank should know this process.

“You already have the trips planned?” Hank said with some surprise.

“Well, somewhat, at least in my mind,” Boris offered.

“Boris! Will you just please tell me?!” Hank said with exasperation.

“I will only say that your birthday trip involves only two locations that are less than 300 miles apart and it involves flying, although it will only take seven hours to get there...initially. I have another idea for your birthday, too,” Boris suggested.

“Only take seven hours,” Hank repeated and he shook his head, then took a final sip on the port and put his finished cigar in the marble ashtray.

“Would you like to hear about our anniversary trip? I do suppose I should involve you with that trip as it is OUR anniversary,” Boris teased and also finished his port and cigar.

They both stood up from their chairs and Hank said, “Yeah, okay, whatever, Boris...”

As they walked around the chairs to go inside, Boris came over to Hank and embraced him, “Are you upset with me?”

Hank looked up at Boris and sighed, “No, I’m not, it’s just that when you think so much, it’s hard for me to get into the conversation that you are having with your mind and most of the time, I want to be involved in that conversation.”

“I know; I apologize. Does this make me a ‘piece of work’?” Boris asked simply.

“Yeah, kinda,” Hank admitted.

Boris held Hank close and buried his nose in Hank’s hair, “But I am YOUR piece of work, ja?”

“You are SO MY piece of work!” Hank said with a laugh.

 

~~~

 

“Ah!!!” Joanne yelled, and almost jumped out of her chair as she heard the gunshot, “What was that?!”

Nurse Joanne and Hank were in the Infirmary sitting at his desk going over paperwork when they heard the first gunshot. In her shock, the papers that she held onto flew up into the air and were now spread all over the floor.

Hank laughed and he came around the desk, knelt down and started to pick up the papers. She too, bent over and started to pick up the papers, when another gunshot went off and she sat back forcefully in her chair and held her hand to her scrubs shirt at her heart.

“Hank! What is that? Is that what I think it is? Should we be worried?” Joanne asked in desperation.

Hank still laughed as he finished picking up the papers and replied, “It’s just Boris, and he’s skeet shooting this afternoon out over the Lower Gardens. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Two gunshots went off one right after the other and Hank said, “He’s all warmed up now. You’ll hear multiple shots more frequently now.”

Two shots, then a pause...

Hank stood up and closed the Infirmary door; they heard two more shots, but they were not as loud now because the door was closed and he asked, “Is that a little better, Joanne?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Joanne replied and jumped again to the sound of another pair of shots, “Boris skeet shoots; that’s interesting.”

Hank said, “He’s really good at it, too. Boris is actually a champion marksman and learned the skill in Germany when he was a young man. His trophies are in his office.”

There was a longer pause, then two shots followed by a very short pause and two more shots; and Joanne flinched now.

“Aaah, he’s using both guns today, one gun right after the other, cool. Do you want to go and watch him?” Hank asked.

“Well, I don’t want to disturb him,” Joanne replied as she thought that the gunshots would definitely sound louder if they went to see Boris and she thought, ‘Oh great, two guns.’

“Believe me, he doesn’t mind; that man has such a focus at times. I mean, he’ll know we are there because we’ll announce ourselves, but when he’s aiming and shooting, nothing bothers him,” Hank said, “Come on.”

They walked to the door, Hank opened it just as two shots went off and Joanne cringed. Hank smiled at her expression.

As they walked to where Boris was, and as pairs of shots followed by a pause were continued to be heard, Joanne said, “Does he do this often?”

“Usually once a week or so; he told me that practice is essential, but to tell you the truth, he has a natural skill with some things and this is one of them,” Hank said pleasantly.

Joanne admired Hank’s calmness over the situation; the sudden, loud, and sharp sounds rattled her to her core.

They exited the house through the doorway which opened out onto a stone patio and they saw Boris standing next to a small table which had one double-barreled, Krieghoff K80 with a 30-inch barrel lying across it along with boxes of ammunition. The other gun was in his hands. He was ready to shoot and held his left hand up in the air with his pointer and index fingers upward in a ‘v’. A moment later, two five inch clay discs were catapulted into the air from opposite directions, one following a lower arc and one following a higher arc; Boris aimed and followed first the lower disc, made the shot, then followed the higher disc and made that shot. Both clay discs broke in mid-air and fell in pieces to the ground.

“Hello Hank! Ah, and hello, Nurse Joanne!” Boris said loudly as he heard them come out onto the patio. He used the break action to open the gun and pulled out the two spent shot shells inside and tossed them into a metal bucket at his feet. He kept the gun open and it hung over his arm as he turned towards them with the muzzle pointed away from them and towards the ground.

They walked up to Boris and he smiled slightly, “I hope that my target practice did not disturb your work.”

Hank laughed and said, “Well, some papers were harmed, but nothing else.”

Boris tilted his head and looked intently at Hank which meant he needed further information to process Hank’s statement.

Hank chuckled and said, “Joanne’s never been here on the days that you shoot, so when you started, the gun shots startled her and she threw the papers we were working on all over the floor.”

Joanne said in a somewhat subdued voice and waved at him shyly, “Hi ya, Boris.”

“Are you all right, Nurse Joanne? You look positively wrecked. I do apologize if my practice harmed you in any way,” Boris said sincerely.

“No, it’s okay, Boris, really, I just don’t hear gun shots, well, ever, so it was kind of new to me. We’re not bothering you, are we? Hank said we wouldn’t be bothering you; he wanted me to watch you shoot,” Joanne said with a nervous voice.

“It is not a problem at all, Nurse Joanne, please do not worry,” Boris said as he loaded his gun again, “Cover your ears.”

Boris once again loaded the gun and made the ‘v’ sign with his fingers and prepared to aim. The clay targets were vaulted into the air and within seconds, Boris again hit both of them with ease.

Joanne had covered her ears, but doing so only helped a little; she still jumped with the shots rang out.

Boris emptied and refilled the gun again; and this time made a different hand signal in addition to the ‘v’ hand signal and prepared to aim. The clay targets were launched at an even higher altitude and closer to the same time, which gave Boris a greater challenge to focus on. Both targets were destroyed.

Boris repeated this process once more.

Boris then refilled both shotguns; left one on the table and held one ready to shoot. He changed his stance slightly which made him look like his was going to move quickly, and held up the ‘v’ signal but waved it twice downward. He prepared to shoot, aimed at the two clay targets that flew into the air, shot and destroyed them both; then with quick efficient speed, set the spent gun down on the table, picked up the other loaded gun, aimed, shot at and destroyed two more clay targets which were launched moments later at different elevations than the first two.

“Wow, that’s impressive!” Joanne said, “I’m lucky that I can park my car between the lines never mind trying to aim and hit such small targets.”

Boris bowed his head slightly at the compliment and emptied the gun and put it down open on the table, “Would either of you care to try your hand at this?”

Joanne said quickly, “Oh, no, thanks anyway, Boris. I’m happy just to watch the pro.”

“Sure, I’ll try again, last time I almost hit one target,” Hank said.

“Remember, Hank, it is all about anticipating your target,” Boris instructed.

Hank picked up the other gun on the table, emptied the spent shells and refilled the ammunition, prepared himself, made the ‘v’ signal and waited. The two clay discs went into the air at the normal angle, Hank aimed, shot at both and hit one of the discs.

“Bravo, Hank! Well done!” Boris said happily.

“I hit one!” Hank exclaimed, “Yes!” Hank fist bumped in the air.

“Congratulations, Hank!” Joanne said with enthusiasm.

Hank cleared the gun he had just fired of spent shells and laid the opened gun on the table. 

Boris looked at his wristwatch and said, “It is three o’clock, time for coffee; Nurse Joanne, would you care to join us?”

“Sure, thanks, that would be a nice, and uh, quiet thing to do now,” Joanne replied.


	26. Ruminate, Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deep contemplation can bring harmony and clarity, in spite of unusual detours.

Hank went over to the HankMed meeting one morning at the Guest House and Evan made a really big deal out it. It was the Weekly Waffle Breakfast Meeting and Evan asked everyone if they too had noticed that Hank only showed up to the breakfast meetings. They all looked at each other, smiled, and nodded their heads in agreement. 

Hank attempted to defend himself and said, “I just like the way Evan makes waffles! Can you blame me?”

Everyone nodded and then agreed with Hank.

Evan said, “Thanks, dude. I was starting to think that they weren’t feeding you anymore over in the Main House. Guys, speaking of food you will not believe this, but I went over to their house for lunch, when was it...last Saturday and somehow...” Evan looked at Hank with an evil eye expression, “...a certain someone had told another certain someone that I like PB&J’s.”

Steven, one of the other HankMed doctors asked, “What’s wrong with that?”

“Well, you don’t know the other certain someone...” Evan began.

Hank interrupted him, “Evan, just say it was Boris, okay?”

Evan then sat down with his plate at the table, as he had served everyone first, “Okay, fine, Hank told Boris that I like PB&J’s and so, since everything Boris eats is gourmet food, he had his chefs make the peanut butter fresh AND the jelly fresh AND the bread fresh for our lunch.”

The other HankMed doctor, Vera, said, “That was really nice of him to do that for you. I’m sure it was wonderful.”

“Oh, yeah, it was really amazing AND...” Evan paused for effect.

Hank began to chuckle as he watched Evan, and said, “Wait for it...”

Evan cleared his throat and continued, “AND Boris actually paired a wine with it!”

Everyone at the table said simultaneously, “Wow.” “Cool.” “Nice.” “Lovely.”

Evan went on, “Yeah, it really was amazing. I didn’t think you could do that. Anyway, I also ended up with an education on how the wine’s naturally something flavors and, uh, something acidity cuts through something in the peanut butter.”

Hank chuckled and said quietly, “Its coffee-caramel sweetness and high acidity cuts through the heavy texture of the peanut butter and it was a Madeira wine, if anyone is interested.”

Evan said, as he ignored Hank’s comment, “I didn’t think that Boris even knew about PB&J’s, you know, a guy like Boris doesn’t eat stuff like that...and then since his chefs made everything from scratch and it was sooo good, I’m ruined! How can I just slap a peanut butter and jelly sandwich together now when I’m starving knowing what the fresh made stuff tastes like?”

Steven said, “Oh, I think you’ll survive Evan.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

As they continued to enjoy the waffles, Divya asked Hank, “How is Boris doing, Hank?”

Hank finished a bite of his waffle and replied, “Really well at the moment; our last trip took a lot of out of him, and I mean a lot, but his health is stable right now.”

“I am so glad to hear this; I find that I am always concerned for him,” Divya replied.

Hank and Divya smiled at each other.

“Where are you traveling next, Hank?” Jeremiah asked.

“It looks like we’re going to New York for a quick trip soon and then he’s cooking up something for my birthday in June, but he won’t tell me what that is,” Hank said cheerfully.

Evan asked Hank, “What does Boris do when you come to these meetings, Bro?”

“Uh, whatever he wants to do, Evan,” Hank said with a smile and a ‘duh’ tone to his voice.

“I mean you two are joined at the hip now and you go everywhere together...” Evan pressed, but with cheerfulness, “Has anyone noticed that whenever you’re talking to Hank and he’s by himself, which is rare, you half expect Boris to show up and like finish his sentences? Wait! Is that Boris at the front door?”

Everyone turned their heads to look at the front door and then back to Hank.

Hank repeated, still with a smile, “Boris does whatever he wants to do, Evan, with or without me, we CAN function individually, you know.” Hank looked briefly at his wrist watch and wasn’t about to divulge anything private and most certainly wasn’t going to tell them that Boris was in meditation out on the Terrace at the moment.

The continued their meeting over another round of coffee and tea and they discussed their current log of patients.

Hank’s mind then began to drift towards Boris meditating, as that was much more interesting to think about than how the meeting then turned to the discussion about supplies that were needed to be ordered and current inventories.

 

Hank had watched Boris meditate many times since they had become a couple and Hank was amazed at the sense of calm that pervaded the Terrace (or wherever he mediated) whenever he went into practice. Hank thought that he might be imagining things, he wasn’t sure, but he felt good about sensing that Boris was at ease. 

Boris would sit upright in full lotus position, his spine stacked, eyes partially closed and unfocused, and his hands were in a gesture that (which Hank learned later from Boris) was called a Dhyana mudra. This gesture, Boris explained, helped to bring tranquility and inner peace and also assisted with the attainment of deeper profound concentration. Boris taught Hank the gesture by showing that his hands faced upward on his lap, the right hand rested on the left hand while the tips of his thumbs touched. The right hand, Boris explained, represented enlightenment and higher spiritual faculties and it rested over the left hand which represented the world of illusion.

What fascinated Hank the most was the expression Boris’ face took on when he transitioned deeper into his practice. It seemed to Hank that any lines of weariness or tension on Boris’ face faded considerably and his mouth curled in a very slight way into a peaceful smile, which was very different from Boris’ slightly amused smile which tilted up on one side. To Hank, if Boris had been born of Asian descent and gifted with beautiful exotic Asian facial features instead of his handsome chiseled Caucasian features, Boris would have looked like the many pictures Hank had seen of a Buddha’s face. It was all about that enigmatic smile.

Boris would sit in his practice for a full hour during each session usually once a week; but not, of course, when Boris was ill...he tried once and that didn’t go well. Hank sat and watched Boris the entire time during a few practice times. Hank had tried to meditate with Boris, when he first learned that Boris meditated, but found that watching Boris was much more interesting. 

When Hank tried to meditate, his mind kept wandering and it latched onto thoughts and jumped around with ideas which would distract him and he couldn’t sit still. Hank learned later, from Boris, that in Buddhism, the restless, whimsical, uncontrolled mind is referred to as the ‘monkey mind’ and Hank admitted to having plenty of that inside of his head.

Controlled breathing was another interesting aspect of the meditation and Boris could do that very well. He would sit so still, and did not respond to outer stimuli, that Hank thought Boris had ‘expired’ once and was much relieved when he learned to the contrary. The first (and last) time this happened, Hank went into a near panic and disturbed Boris’ session, only to find that Boris was very much alive and well at that moment. Boris calmly instructed Hank in the breathing technique and helped to put Hank’s mind at ease. 

Boris had also suggested to Hank that ‘expiring’ (a.k.a. dying) while in meditative equipoise, within the grander scheme of things, wouldn’t be such a bad way to go. (‘Passing on’, in general, was an extremely sensitive subject to talk about with Hank anyway – Boris learned - and after addressing the topic of dying somewhat logically, Hand agreed that it was a much gentler way to go than say “...getting hit by a bus or falling off of a cliff...” (Hank’s words)) Now, Hank simply had to watch Boris’ lower belly, behind his hands resting in his lap rise and fall in slow, small waves to feel comforted that Boris hadn’t passed on.

The last and still unknown (at least by Hank) aspect of all of this was where/how Boris had learned to meditate. Hank remembered when Boris told him, during the weekend they became legally married, that after Hank passed on, Boris would become a monk...again...and live out the rest of his life that way. Boris hadn’t yet told Hank that story, nor did Boris talk more in depth about how he came to be connected to Tibet and their hospital there. Hank tried several times to get Boris to tell him all about it; Hank even reminded Boris that Boris had said, “Remind me to tell you that story sometime.” But whenever Hank asked, Boris’ reply was still always, “Someday, Hank, someday.”

 

“So, Bro, I know that inventory is not your thing, but it would be helpful if you could actually be present, in the room, in the chair you are sitting in, when you attend these meetings,” Evan said loudly, “We do really appreciate your input.” 

Everyone smiled or giggled at Evan’s comment and stared at Hank.

Evan really didn’t like it when Hank wore the “...far away visionary look...” (Evan’s words) because he knew Hank wasn’t in the room; and that confused Evan because Hank was both in the room and not in the room at the same time. Evan told Hank once that Hank never used to do that before he partnered up with Boris; ‘HBB’ or ‘Hank Before Boris’ (also Evan’s words) just always looked lost and that was easier to deal with, in Evan’s mind, because Evan could always rope Hank back into the current situation easily by offering him food and a cold beer. Evan had once thought to himself, ‘My brother is like a pet and only responds to treats.’

“What?” Hank’s reverie was broken and he looked around the table at everyone and saw their expectant but smiling faces. He smiled back at them.

“Where were you just now, Bro?” Evan asked.

“Uh, well, obviously not here. I was busy thinking about something,” Hank chuckled, “Sorry everyone,” And smiled sheepishly.

“No, seriously, Henry, where were you?” Evan persisted.

Hank thought that if he said something unusual, Evan’s interest would be deflected, so Hank replied, “Uh, Tibet.”

Everyone then looked at Evan.

Evan continued after he dismissed Hank’s comment with a wave of his hand as his eyebrows went upwards, and looked around the table at everyone, “Okay, so anything more on Hank’s favorite topic of the cotton swab inventory? No? Okay, let’s go onto scheduling; bear with me, folks and uh, Bro, we’re almost done.”

 

After the meeting, Hank walked quickly back to the Main House and to the Terrace with the hope to find Boris. He knew it was past an hour and that Boris probably wasn’t in meditation any longer. But because Hank really enjoyed being near Boris when he finished his session; it just felt so calm and comforting to be around Boris for those moments, he hoped the calm hadn’t ‘worn off’ yet before he got there.

Hank found Boris still on the Terrace, but he was crouched down and focused on trimming one of the bonsai trees. Boris had a small dish in front of him (for the trimmed-off leaves) and next to the tree he was working on; he held a long pair of thin tweezers and a long pair of thin scissors, one tool in each hand.

Boris looked up at Hank as he entered the Terrace, “Ah! There you are Hank, did you meeting go well this morning?” Boris placed the tools on the ledge next to the dish, stood up and they met and embraced.

Hank’s head was on Boris’ shoulder and Hank closed his eyes for a moment and relished Boris’ calm. 

Boris smiled because Hank was quite adorable to him at the moment. Boris knew what Hank was doing, he did admit to it at one point early on in their relationship after Boris had regained his physical health and began to practice again; and Boris was very happy to share the momentary harmony brought on by his meditation with his beloved husband.

Hank looked up at Boris and said, “This feels as good as eating cookies.”

Boris smiled and said, “As good?”

“Nah, maybe better,” Hank replied.

“Maybe?” Boris teased.

 

~~~

 

They walked into the New York Apartment and Boris went straight to, and quickly, with his long strides to the Terrace. He adored the Terrace and because they were on the 27th floor, their Penthouse had a most spectacular view of New York and was above most of the noise and vehicle exhaust that hovered over the streets of the enormous city. Hank went over to the sideboard which held the liqueurs and spirits and poured two snifters of a 30-year old Grahams Port.

 

They had gotten a later start that day and left Shadow Pond just after lunch time, which was in and of itself not a problem; however they ran into ‘horrendous’ (Boris’ word) traffic on the bridge and the roads through downtown Manhattan. It took over four hours to get from Shadow Pond to the parking garage at the building. They learned that the delay was caused by some sort of road maintenance work which wasn’t suppose to start until after the evening rush hour, and the work subsequently shut down several blocks in several directions, which meant detours - lots of detours, confused and angry New York drivers (more angry than usual which is always a bad thing), and traffic at a standstill in many places. It should only have taken a little under two and a half hours to drive into the city at that time of the day. 

Boris was extremely unhappy about this turn of events and actually swore in German about, “...the questionable, if any, intelligence level of the idiotic city official who made the asinine decision to not wait until after rush hour...” and, “...his (the city official’s) feeble genetic make-up being on the level below that of dying pond scum...” and that Boris hoped that the official, “...had not been a further buffoon by breeding any offspring.” 

Through the opened, interior window in the wall between the front seat and the main cabin of the Bentley, Hank saw Udo’s eye brows go up at Boris’ apparently colorful comments and thought it best, for the moment, that he did not know what Boris was saying. Hank only knew that Boris was angry. So, Hank just sat there quietly in the car and watched Boris fume. Hank wanted to cheer Boris up but he knew better and this was not the right time for cheering up.

(Hank remembered some of the words and looked them up later on his phone; he smiled when he learned the gist of what Boris had said, and smiled to himself then as he thought about the cleverness of his husband and how Boris embellished on anything he ranted about, when he could have plainly called the city official a jerk like everyone else.) 

Boris was also annoyed with himself as it was his decision for them to be driven in the Bentley with the entourage instead taking the helicopter in. No one dared to point out to the now angry-Boris, during that time, that the drive from the helipad, which was near the river, would have also been affected by the road work. It was best to just let the situation settle itself.

Udo was busy and had their luggage brought up and placed in the dressing room by the building’s bell staff, and had also finished finalizing their dinner arrangements. (The regular, hired/security-cleared chef and her assistant were also stuck in traffic.) Udo was relieved to find that the regular, hired/security-cleared service staff had prepared and refreshed the Penthouse earlier that day, as was ordered – which included the opening of the slider doors that led out onto the Terrace to allow fresh air into the Penthouse. He also knew that the kitchen had been re-stocked so that if his Masters became hungry, he could prepare something for them. 

Now, since dinner was going to be late, he decided to prepare a snack for them. A well-laid out cheese board with all of the accompaniments usually placated Boris and with the glasses of port wine that Dr. Hank now poured for them, Udo felt that his Master’s nerves would be settled soon. When they both weren’t looking, Udo also checked the humidor and felt satisfied that there were more than enough cigars in it to last their weekend. Udo then checked the bed linens and bath towels to make sure that everything was fresh. All of this was the standard procedure for this type of a trip, and they had run into traffic before; and Udo knew what he could do to bring back the harmony; he was grateful for Dr. Hank’s assistance with this situation because Udo had extra time now and went into the kitchen to prepare the cheeseboard.

Hank hated to see Boris so upset; he then had an idea and went to the humidor, grabbed two cigars, the cutter, and the torch. He placed the items in his jacket pocket, picked up the glasses of port and walked out onto the Terrace. Hank set the glasses down on the table in the seating area and sat down himself as he waited for Boris to calm down. While he waited, he took the items out of his pocket and set it all down on the table next to the terra cotta ashtray that was also on the table.

Boris stood at his usual spot at the half-wall between the two planters which had copious amounts of different herbs growing in them; he leaned on the wall with his forearms as he looked out over the city. After a few moments of deep breathing (of which he caught the cleansing scent of the rosemary growing in the planter to his right) Boris reached over and ran his long fingers along one of the branches of the rosemary and then brought his fingers to his nose, closed his eyes a moment, and inhaled the pungent aromatic scent; he knew of the plant’s culinary and medicinal properties and it seemed to help him and he smiled slightly. Boris straightened his back and turned around to see Hank seated with a friendly smile on his face as he looked up at Boris, two glasses of port wine and a pair of cigars, the cutter and the torch all waited patiently for him on the table next to Hank. Boris sighed and looked at Hank with now an amused smile.

“Hello, Husband,” Hank said calmly and he watched Boris’ expression become relaxed.

“Thank you, Hank, I am...better now,” Boris admitted and he walked over to where Hank was sitting, knelt down in front of him and placed his hands on Hank’s thighs. Boris looked at Hank and smiled slightly; Boris studied Hank’s face and then smiled more. Boris automatically leaned in closer to Hank.

Hank automatically leaned in to Boris, took Boris’ face in his hands and said quietly, “Now, it’s time for our nice long weekend,” Then he kissed Boris lovingly.

Boris responded with the same loving motion and as they pulled away, he said, “Ah, much better now.”

Then, it dawned on the two of them, at the same time, that they hadn’t looked around to see if any staff was nearby; their eyes widened and they both turned their heads quickly and scanned the Terrace and what they could see inside the Penthouse from where they were, and then turned back to look at each other, smiled slightly and felt relieved they were alone, but embarrassed that they hadn’t checked first.

“Good lord, Hank, we were not very discreet just now, ja? We kissed without thinking to look,” Boris said quietly as he was somewhat in shock.

“Wow, we’ve never done that before. We’re always so careful. Why did we do that?” Hank said in quiet amazement.

“I can only guess that we felt perfectly comfortable at that moment, and that perhaps...” Boris trailed off as he sat back on his heels.

“What?” Hank sat back as well.

Boris stood up and then sat down in the other chair and replied, “I was going to say that perhaps the freedom we felt in Paris is still lingering within us.”

“That sounds reasonable...whatever it was, or is, it felt nice,” Hank said with a smile.

They picked up their glasses and turned towards each other to toast; Hank said, “To Paris.”

“To Paris,” Boris repeated, they touched glasses and each man took a sip.

Udo entered the Terrace and he carried a large slate platter which had upon it several types of cheeses, nuts, olives, pickles, fruit, honeycomb, and flatbread seeded crackers, “Pardon me, Sirs, but I thought you would like to take your respite along with something to eat. I am sorry to say that dinner will be later than usual tonight; our chef and her assistant are delayed,” Udo placed the slate on the outdoor dining table, arranged the forks, knives, small plates, and the napkins, and was careful not to say the reason why the cooking staff was delayed as he believed that any words relating to traffic would be unwelcomed. He sensed that Boris had calmed and by the looks on both of the men’s faces, something pleasant, such as an embrace, must have just happened and Udo wasn’t about to disturb that.

Boris stood up and walked over to Udo and placed his hand lightly on Udo’s shoulder as he first looked at Udo with fondness, and then at the platter, “Thank you, Udo, this looks quite marvelous. I should also wish to thank you for taking such exemplary care of us, even through my fit of traffic-induced rage.” 

Hank had now come over to the table as well to see what Udo had brought them to eat and looked quite happy. He picked up and ate a couple of grapes and chuckled, “My husband had road rage and he wasn’t even driving.”

Udo and Boris looked at Hank each with amused smiles.

“You are most welcome, Sir, it is no trouble at all. Please enjoy and I shall unpack your things. We anticipate dinner to be closer to eight o’clock,” Udo said as he looked back up at Boris.

“We can always order in pizza and beer!” Hank said enthusiastically.

“Oh, Hank, you will take almost any situation to have your New York pizza and beer, ja? I was looking forward to the scallops and wild rice this evening,” Boris said as he picked up a fork and chose a piece of Mancheco cheese from the platter to eat.

“Tell you what, we can have the scallops tonight, but when we’re out tomorrow, let’s go to that pizza joint right off of the park and have lunch. Remember the one I took you to when we went sweater shopping last year?” Hank suggested with a smile.

“Ah, I remember, all right then, as you wish,” Boris then ate his bite of cheese and after a moment, asked calmly, “Udo, is there any other staff up here with us at the moment?”

“No, Sir, it is only the two of you and myself. Khalil’s team is settling into their rooms and one of them is guarding the elevator hall. Please enjoy the cheeseboard, I shall go and unpack your things now,” Udo said pleasantly, bowed slightly and left the Terrace.

Hank was looking at the cheeseboard to see what the next thing was that he was going to eat when Boris pulled him into an embrace, looked into his eyes and said, “Now...where were we?” Boris kissed Hank with great affection and Hank responded in kind.

Udo had gone into the Dressing Room, but then turned around to return to the Terrace because he had neglected to ask which wine they wanted with their scallop dinner; Udo knew that there were three that had been stored in the wine chiller that Boris would approve of. From where he stood then, which was slightly hidden, he could see out onto the Terrace and saw his Masters in their embrace and in the kiss. Udo smiled and returned to the Dressing Room.

After the long kiss, they stayed in the embrace for a few moments and Hank’s head was on Boris’ shoulder. Hank said, “I could really get used to this.”

“Ja, me, too,” Boris said as he stood there with his eyes closed as he held Hank a little more firmly.

“Do you think that Udo would be upset if he ever saw us do this?” Hank asked gently.

“Well, he has seen us ‘do this’ Hank; do you not recall that he, Khalil, and Anton were with us on the Tour Eiffel? All three of them saw us during that momentous embrace,” Boris said with a chuckle.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. I was, uh, kinda, involved,” Hank replied with some embarrassment.

“As was I, but I felt so free at that moment and did not care who saw us; nothing mattered to me beyond you being in my arms and your lips on mine...I do not believe that I had thanked you for that bit of heaven you gave to me,” Boris said kindly.

Hank looked up at Boris and smiled widely and said, “Oh, you did thank me, don’t worry; but you’re welcome, again.”

 

The scallops were perfect; in fact, all of the dinner was perfect. They did have to eat indoors because it became a little too chilly to sit out on the Terrace. And that was perfectly fine because the dining room had glass walls on three sides and glowed with a spectacular view of the city skyline; the glass and pewter metallic dining table that seated twelve, made you feel like you were floating over the city. 

Udo, the chef and her assistant, and their security were released from their duties for the evening and they now relaxed either in their bedrooms or the separate staff living space. Since there were six bedrooms (two of which were formal guest bedrooms), in addition to their master area, Udo and their security stayed in those bedrooms and even shared a separate kitchen; each bedroom had its own bathroom. It was like two extra-large apartments stuck together and the master area was fully separate and private from the rest of the total space.

 

The slider doors to the Terrace were now closed and certain lamps in the Penthouse were lit throughout, and those lamps created a completely different atmosphere than their Apartment and other living spaces at Shadow Pond; it was a nice change of pace. 

More than half of the Penthouse’s master area was floor to ceiling windows, which faced east and mornings there were stunning. Afternoons were shaded and it was comfortable to sit out on the Terrace even, generally, when the rest of the city was sweltering. 

That evening, some of the heavier curtains had been drawn in some places, and some of the sheers had been drawn in others, and this combination allowed just the right amount of light from the city to also shine in. Where Shadow Pond had vast open spaces with wood and marble which made it grand, classical, and elegant, the Penthouse was modern and sophisticated with glass and metal, jewel-toned accents, lower ceilings and was sleek and almost cozy in a 10,000 square foot kind of way because of the way it was designed. 

This allowed Boris and Hank to have complete privacy and they enjoyed it fully. Boris had designed the Penthouse this way, but when he did so, he only dreamt that he would ever have the opportunity to share it with someone special. He had spent many nights alone in the master side of the Penthouse and now that he and Hank shared it, his joy was complete.

It was just past ten o’clock and now Hank made certain that the bathroom was perfect. He found the stash of candles that he had requested and when he excused himself to go to the bathroom, he took that time to set up the candles and light each one of them, then arranged them so they would reflect off of the mirrors and shine against the golden travertine surfaces in the bathroom. Hank also filled the bathtub, set the temperature gauge to a degree point which he knew that both of them would be comfortable in and scented the water with aromatic oils. Hank stood there for a moment surveying his ‘creation’ and felt a thrill inside that he would get this opportunity to surprise Boris with some pleasant bath time together. Hank knew that Boris was not fond of surprises; but Hank knew that Boris wouldn’t mind this kind of a surprise.

Boris was in the Penthouse’s office and just finished composing emails to the management team at Festung and to Diana, as he let them know that he and Hank were in town and if they needed anything, or their presence, to simply contact them at the Penthouse. Boris was focused and didn’t hear anything from the bathroom; the Penthouse had also been designed to protect areas from sound intrusions of any kind, and so the entire master side was quiet and he could just barely hear Hank’s iPod playing romantic torch jazz from the master bedroom.

Hank walked out of the bathroom, gathered the iPod and its speaker from the bedroom, and went to the office; he asked, “Everything okay?”

“Ja, I have just now...” And he touched the send button, “...sent the emails. And, as you can see, I am closing the laptop, so that I am tempted no further to work,” Boris said and he stood up from the desk. He looked at Hank and smiled, “You have that charming expression on your face when you are being more clever than usual, Hank. What sort of mischief have you gotten into and why am I not in it with you?”

“Because you have to come with me first before you can get in it with me,” Hank said with a smile.

As they walked across the living area, Boris looked around and said, “This is a nice space, ja?”

“Oh, yeah, really nice, it’s so different than Shadow Pond,” Hank said as he led Boris to the bathroom. Hank opened the door and said, “Husband, you need a bath.”

They stepped into the bathroom and Boris’ face showed an expression of wonder; he took a deep breath through his nose and said, “Frankincense and...”

“Damascus Rose,” Hank finished his sentence as he set up the iPod on the counter and turned the music down very low.

Boris reached for Hank and held him close, “This is simply delightful, Hank. Just how many candles are in this room?”

“Twenty four,” Hank said from where the side of his head was on Boris’ shoulder, “I wanted us to have a nice bath together.”

“This is perfect, my beloved One, thank you,” Boris as he looked at Hank, who now looked up at him.

 

The tub was enormous and could have fit four people. They checked the controls for a comfortable temperature and for the water to gently and silently swirl around them; after they undressed, they settled into the water together in their (perhaps) second favorite position, as Boris sat with his back against the side of the tub and Hank sat in front of Boris with his back to Boris’ front, their legs straight and forward, Boris’ legs on the outside, Hank’s legs on the inside; Boris’ arms were wrapped around Hank and Hank held Boris’ arms.

“Yeah, this perfect,” Hank said as he leaned back against Boris.

They became quiet and simply enjoyed the closeness, the scented warm water, the flickering candle light, and the peace. Each man’s mind drifted through thoughts, some thoughts were happy and some not so much that night.

Hank spoke first, “When we have moments like this, Tree, I keep thinking of the craziness, at least for me, of before you and I became companions. I wish I wouldn’t think about those times, because I was so frustrated back then. How do I stop thinking about stuff like that? It feels like I’m chained to the past sometimes and I just want to move forward, I mean, you and I to move forward.”

“I understand what you say, my beloved One; my before-us-time haunts me as well. I suppose we need to always remember the past so that we can determine how far we have come and how far we are yet to go, ja? You say you remember the frustration, for me, I remember the loneliness,” Boris admitted.

“I always felt that I spent my most of my time looking for someone and looking back on it now, it felt endless and so unfulfilling. Of course, then I have a brother who kept telling me that I fell in love every ten minutes, and that really didn’t help. But he didn’t know because I never shared with him what was really deep inside of me and what I was really searching for. I never shared anything like that with anyone, especially not Evan. Oh gees, what a mess that would have made for me. You are now the only person that I could share anything like this with,” Hank said quietly.

“I understand; I gave up in my searching,” Boris said equally as quiet.

“You know, Albert told me that you were hurt twice, very deeply and that you gave up. He said he is so happy for you now that you and I are together; and he made me promise to always care for you, to always love you – which, of course, I did promise; he’s such a good friend. If...you...ever wanted to talk about those times, I’d listen; I mean you know that you can share anything with me, right?” Hank asked.

“Ja, I know and I have inadequate words to describe just how grateful I am to have that available to me; I have...never had that opportunity before and I do not know how to do that well,” Boris sighed deeply and Hank could feel Boris’ chest expand and contract, “Do you think, Hank, that if we shared with each other more about the...before times...that we could break free from the chains, as it were, that you speak of?”

“Maybe that would be something good for us to do together. We certainly can’t change any of the past; and we’re certainly not going to share what we talk about with anyone,” Hank said thoughtfully.

“Absolute prih-vacy is a comfort, surely. I am...” Boris said, but stopped....

“I love the way you say the word privacy,” Hank interrupted with a happy tone.

Boris kissed Hank’s hair and smiled slightly.

“I’m sorry, I interrupted you; what were you going to say?” Hank asked.

“Well, I was going to ask if...perhaps...we are fearful to share details of our past with each other because we do not know if it will alter our future together,” Boris pondered out loud.

“I heard a quote once that goes like this: Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine,” Hank said.

“An, that is very clever and somewhat profound; and no, Hank, I have never purchased anything from a machine that vends,” Boris said.

Hank chuckled and continued, “Listen, with what you and I have been through in just the last year, we almost lost each other just as we started out together. We were being tested and we came out of the fire together. I believe now that we can handle anything; and we’ve certainly had lots of change in our lives. Sharing details with each other about our past is nothing compared to how we made ourselves miserable and everything that has happened to us, and I’m just going to say it: your body chemistry eventually tried to kill you and I almost bled to death because someone didn’t want us to be together. There! I said it out loud.”

“Ah, that was wonderfully undisguised of you, Hank,” Boris said with a soft chuckle.

“Puts it in a different perspective, maybe? Ha! And that’s something coming from a guy like me who has trouble talking about dying. Anyway, I think you may have been smarter than me; I didn’t know when to give up searching for the right person, I just kept going, oh gees, there were just so many people...even, then, of course, and you remember about the whole thing about the Garners, and my fiancé, that whole thing messed me up big time. I look back now and know that I saw something in each of them that I wanted all in one person. I kept looking for that one person. Maybe Evan was right,” Hank paused as he realized he was rambling and then said, “I’m sorry, Boris, my mind is just jumping around.”

“Eh, no, Hank, I was not smarter, as you say. I am that type of a man, whom, once I commit myself to someone, it is complete and absolute, you know this now, ja? I have learned though that this is a painful way to live. When I gave up my heart to someone, I was very young, 17 the first time and 20 the second time. I thought I had found the perfect mate each time. I had to contend with family regulations, as you know as well and...well, the first one was banished from my life, and my heart, and the second one I removed myself from that situation because I saw that it would end the same...the family saw to it that my heart would stay empty. The family also emptied the hearts of the two I had committed myself to. Sometime later, I was nearly forced into a union, which I did not approve of, and, well...it was better for me to be alone and focus on my work than to live a lie,” Boris said with an edge to his voice.

Hank turned in place and folded up his legs so that he could sit sideways in the tub, yet still somewhat between Boris’ legs and in front of Boris, and looked at Boris, “You know when we went out to dinner and those two women I knew...”

“I know, Hank, they reminded you of your past. Is that what has brought this on?” Boris asked gently.

“Yeah, I’m embarrassed about this; Boris, I dated a lot...” Hank admitted, “Probably more than I should have.”

“But, Hank, you were...lonely,” Boris said with compassion.

Hank smiled slightly but his eyes were sad as he asked, “How are you right now?”

“Er, well, I am saddened for the Hank and for the Boris who were lonely men in years past...” Boris looked away for a moment; Boris had one hand on Hank’s back and the other on Hank’s knee; but then looked back at Hank when Hank spoke.

“Yeah, me too. But, here’s my thought, I wanted to ask you about this. Maybe you and I can now take comfort in the fact that if we didn’t have our pasts, then we wouldn’t be who we are individually now and then we wouldn’t be together now. Your past created you and mine created me and that lined us up for meeting each other to take that next step...but together; what do you think about that?” Hank asked with a growing cheerfulness.

“It almost makes me feel grateful; our reward for our patience and struggle is each other,” Boris said thoughtfully and he held Hank’s face in both of his wet hands for a moment before he leaned forward and kissed Hank tenderly.

Hank felt such relief and a building joy that he had shared with Boris some of his deepest thoughts and that Boris felt at ease enough to share his deepest thoughts with him; the topic had been bothering Hank to the point that he had become uncomfortable. Now Hank felt a little more at peace. He returned Boris’ kiss and as their lips parted, but their foreheads still touched, Hank began to caress Boris’ shoulder and arm. His hands then moved across Boris’ chest and Hank turned completely to face Boris with his knees and hips bent and on the outside of Boris’ legs as Boris brought his legs together and Hank sat on Boris’ thighs. 

Boris’ hands fell away gently into the water and found their way to Hank’s trim waist; and his heart began to beat faster as he leaned back in the tub; he closed his eyes and relished the feel of Hank’s loving hands roaming across his wet skin.

The warm scented water cocooned both men and they took delight on how their skin felt under the water.

Hank leaned towards Boris and slowly began to lightly kiss his earlobe, his neck, and then his cheek and to Boris’ lips. Hank’s hardness was pressed against Boris’ abdomen and he moaned. Hank pulled away slightly so that one of Hank’s hands moved down Boris’ chest and abdomen and still lower and he grasped Boris’ masculinity which became more firm under his touch.

Boris took a sharp intake of breath and shuddered slightly, he whispered as his lips touched Hank’s, “Do what you will with me, H-hank...I love you.”

“I love you back, Boris,” Hank replied breathlessly as his left hand held Boris at the back of his neck to hold him in a firm kiss while his right hand continued to move under the water.

 

~~~

 

“B-but, Boris...oh...our, um breakfast is going to, oh gees...” Hank swallowed hard and could barely catch his breath, “...uh, get...”

At that moment, Hank was not in the room, he was on ‘cloud 9’, and for a few moments afterwards, he was perfectly happy to stay there. Boris seemed to always know just how to make him feel so alive, so free, and so lightheaded. Hank sighed deeply and kept his eyes closed because he was almost sure that the room was spinning and that might have been because he had held his breath for too long, or maybe Boris knew how to make the room spin; Hank wasn’t sure about anything right now and that was fine.

 

They were on their bed, and had just awakened from a good night’s sleep. There was cuddling and whispered “good mornings” and then one thing led to another. Since they had been up so late, they awoke late and both agreed that it was, in Boris’ words, “...our holiday weekend...” and they had nowhere to be at any special time. Hank still enjoyed Boris’ phraseology just as much as Boris still enjoyed Hank’s; this was a constant source of amusement to them. 

“I say holiday and you say vacation, simple, ja?” Boris reminded Hank.

 

Boris had his head propped up on his left hand and arm as he lay on his left side and looked down at Hank who was lying on his back. Boris admired Hank’s face and the smile which was on it at the moment; Boris was very happy that it appeared he had helped bring Hank to a state of euphoria much like what Hank had done for Boris the previous night.

Boris tried to remember how they even ended up on their bed; the warm bath and what happened in the bath made his memory pleasantly fuzzy. As he watched Hank, he then recalled that they had finally gotten out of the tub (and didn’t fall and break a bone, as Hank had warned Boris) and had blown out all twenty-four candles (which made them dizzy), dried each other off briskly with fluffy towels, and then climbed into bed without putting on any bedclothes. Boris turned his head slightly and saw that their bedclothes were still draped across the corner of the bed at the foot. As he turned his head back, Hank had opened his eyes and looked up at him.

They smiled at each other and Boris said, “You were saying something about breakfast, my beloved One, I apologize for interrupting you.”

Hank chuckled and stretched his body fully, “Yeah, that was so rude of you. Don’t you have any manners?”

“Apparently not,” Boris replied plainly but laced with a sly tone, “What is the punishment for interrupting a sentence about food with the actions of bringing one’s husband to climax?”

Hank started to say something, then closed his mouth and pursed his lips, looked away and then back at Boris. To Hank, sometimes Boris just simply had to say something and Hank would feel a stirring and the beginnings of arousal and he thought, ‘What’s with that?’

Boris began to get out of bed and slyly said, “When you decide upon my punishment, let me know. I...” He paused for effect, “...am hungry and wish to eat my breakfast now,” Boris grabbed his dark blue silk pajamas and bent over to put the trousers on; he heard Hank make a ‘grr’ sound and as he stood by the side of the bed and looked down at Hank with a smile on his face as he buttoned his pajama shirt. Boris grabbed Hank’s sleep clothes and handed them to Hank, “Do you care to join me?”

Hank smiled and sat up, grabbed his sleep clothes, but Boris didn’t let go of them. Boris pulled Hank up to an upright kneeling position on the bed using the bedclothes like a rope, and leaned over to kiss Hank and he pulled Hank towards him. But before he did so, Boris said with a wicked tone, “I shall expect my punishment this evening,” Then Boris kissed Hank with passion and walked into the bathroom.

 

Hank was so giddy. They finally got the opportunity to take a long walk in Central Park. The weather that day was perfect and it seemed that everyone else in New York thought so, too. The paths and walkways were very busy; walkers, runners, skateboarders, cyclists, families with children and strollers, and there was a Tai Chi class going on over on a flat lawn; people played chess on stone tables, kites were flown, some people were doing yoga, and boats were paddled along the waterway.

Hank was happy that he talked Boris into not wearing a tie, although Boris insisted on wearing his suit, but chose a light tan one because it was springtime. Hank wore a collared shirt and trousers, and rolled up his sleeves almost to his elbows. 

Udo and the whole team of Yussef, Jon Michel, Misha, Anton, and Richard shadowed the two men at different intervals and since they all wore black, they looked a little out of place in the park. New Yorkers are unique in that they would take one glance at the six men dressed all in black and shrug their shoulders as if to say, ‘Whatever’.

The two men walked at a leisurely pace and talked. Towards one o’clock, Hank got hungry and Boris said he could eat. They walked over to a kiosk/’pizza joint’ (Hank’s words) at the edge of the park that sold pizza; it was the really good, true New York-style pizza that New Yorkers are proud of, rave about, and are fiercely protective of. Hank got two enormous pepperoni slices and Boris chose a slice of cheese pizza. Of course, the proprietor of the kiosk looked at Boris with an odd expression when Boris asked politely for a knife and fork. Boris looked at the proprietor with an equally odd expression when he was roughly handed a plastic knife and fork by the proprietor.

Surprisingly, the two men found a picnic table which was vacant and sat down to eat. Hank insisted that Udo and the team all have pizza, too, and since the entire picnic table was vacant, all eight men sat down to enjoy their lunch together. Hank and ‘the guys’ (Hank’s words) all enjoyed iced cold sodas; and Udo and Boris had water with no ice, which was another reason for the pizza proprietor to give them another odd expression.

After lunch, Boris and Hank continued their walk down by the waterway and across two bridges. They talked about their dinner and the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ musical that they planned to attend later that evening and they were excited about their night out on the town.

One bridge that they walked over had concrete benches on either side of the beginning and end of the bridge. Old trees lined the walkway and shaded the benches making it a comfortable place to sit. People sat on the benches and had their picnics there; some families had strollers laden with children and supplies and appeared to have commandeered some of the benches.

As Boris and Hank walked up, over, and down one bridge, and in front of a family with a stroller, a young boy on a skateboard came careening down the bridge; at the base of the bridge where Boris and Hank were, an indent in the bridge caused the skateboarder’s front wheel to split apart and that sent him tumbling into Boris and knocked Hank to the ground.

The forward momentum of the skateboarder was fast and he couldn’t stop himself from crashing into Boris and nearly further towards the stroller – which had a child sleeping in it – and further still, head first towards one of the old trees. Boris’ quick reflexes successfully prevented the skateboarder from crashing into the stroller with the child and into the tree, by spinning the skateboarder out of the way, but the cost of this was that Boris hit the end of the nearby concrete bench in two places.

The force of all of this movement broke Boris’ left arm with a crack that was heard by many and he fell to the ground and grasped his left arm. Hank had scrambled up from the ground and immediately went to Boris as Udo, Anton, and Richard, who were closest to Boris had moved in quickly as well. Yussef and Jon Michel went to assist the skateboarder and Misha went to assist the mother of the child in the stroller. 

The blood that was starting to stain Boris’ jacket sleeve, and the odd shape there pushing up on the sleeve from underneath, could be seen now and to Hank’s trained eyes, he knew immediately that Boris’ arm had a compound fracture. This meant that either the radius bone or the ulna bone had broken and had pierced up through Boris’ skin and would be visible. Boris’ face grimaced from the pain, cradled his arm to his body. Hank yelled to anyone who was listening if anyone had a knife or scissors. The mother of the child in the stroller shouted that she did and after digging through the stroller’s pack and trying to comfort her baby, she handed Misha a pair of scissors, who handed the scissors to Hank. Hank quickly cut open the sleeve of Boris’ jacket and dress shirt, peeled back the now bloody sleeves and there was Boris’ radius bone sticking out through his skin. Blood flowed from the open wound. 

“Udo! Let me have your tie!” Hank said as he further looked around and saw an ice chest nearby, “Richard! Get that ice chest, I need it and the ice and water in it right now!”

Udo removed his tie and handed it to Hank; Richard retrieved the ice chest and brought it over to where they were sitting on the ground.

“Take out anything that isn’t ice and water, I need this to keep the swelling down,” Hank instructed.

Richard removed several beverage cans and two large sealing bags of food.

Someone in the crowd had called 911 and a siren could be heard in the distance. Two New York Police Department officers came running up to the scene and people started to gather around.

Hank looked at Boris and said, “Boris, I need to move this bone back into place, wrap it to keep it stable and to slow down the bleeding, then we have to ice down your arm to keep it from swelling. This is going to hurt - a lot. Are you ready?”

Boris’ now pale grimacing face looked at Hank and he nodded quickly. Boris tried to steel himself but he wasn’t truly prepared for the pain that he felt in the next moment. 

Hank forced the bone back into Boris’ arm and had to dig his fingers into Boris’ flesh to make sure the bone was seated properly and that no veins, arteries, or muscles and tendons were pinched.

Boris gritted his teeth and growled in pain, he shut his eyes tight, and pushed backwards strongly. Udo, Anton, and Richard were at Boris’ back and held Boris as upright as they could because his natural reaction was to try and pull away from what was causing the pain. Boris pushed against them hard. 

Hank had Boris’ arm in a firm grip at his elbow and cried, “Don’t move!” Hank checked the bone again by digging back into Boris’ flesh a second time, and worried about the amount of blood that Boris was losing; Hank was afraid that an artery or a vein had been cut, “Richard! Hold his arm now, I need to wrap it!” Hank took Udo’s tie and wrapped it around Boris’ forearm quickly, but neat and tight, folding back down the flesh and skin that had burst outward and Hank started to wrap from the wrist and moved towards his elbow, so that blood wasn’t trapped in Boris’ wrist and hand.

“Boris? I’ve got to put this in the ice now, hold on!” Hank took Boris’ forearm and plunged it into the ice chest, which caused Boris to groan.

The paramedics had arrived, parked on the grass, grabbed cases of their medical supplies and came towards them quickly; Boris looked up and met their eyes and said firmly, “Take care of the others first...” He paused and then said more quietly, “Please. Is the child all right? What about the boy?”

Hank looked at Boris and shook his head as he held Boris’ arm in the ice water.

While one police officer started to disperse the crowd, Yussef talked with the other and described what had happened.

After a few moments, one of the paramedics came over to them and said, “The child is fine, she was just frightened. The kid’s okay, too, just a little knocked around, I think he’s more embarrassed than anything else,” He looked at the ice chest and Boris’ wrapped arm buried in the ice and then crouched down and looked at Hank, “Are you a doctor?”

“Yeah, hi, I’m Hank,” Hank smiled slightly, “Thanks for coming so fast. He’s got a compound fracture of the left radius, and possibly a torn blood vessels,” Hank carefully lifted Boris’ arm out of the ice water, but Boris grimaced and groaned again.

The other paramedic came over with two more medical cases and crouched down as well to see. Yussef, Misha, and Jon Michel now stood guard over everyone in a circle and would look outward at the crowd and back inward at Boris and Hank.

“That’s a lot of blood on the sleeve, did an artery get nicked?” Paramedic One asked.

“I don’t think so, but definitely some capillaries have burst; luckily it was a pretty clean bone break with no fragmenting,” Hank replied, “But I’d like to get this x-rayed and have an ultrasound done on the area just to make sure. This is Boris, by the way.”

Paramedic One said as he looked into Boris’ eyes with a trained gaze, “Hi Boris, I’m Anthony and this is Stuart; you’re going to be all right, you had some quick care done here.”

“Hi there,” Stuart said and had begun to set up a temporary splint around Boris’ forearm and he looked around at Udo and the rest of the team all in their black clothing.

The two police officers were busy with the crowd, one of them said, “Move along folks, there’s nothin’ to see here.”

“Ja, Hank always comes to my rescue in some fashion or another,” Boris said somewhat quietly as he looked with a pained smile from Anthony to Hank and then to his arm, “Are the child and the boy truly all right?”

“Yes, they’re fine, sir, you’re the one who needs the attention right now, I’m going to take your vital signs now, okay?” Anthony asked as he stilled looked intently at Boris and saw the beginning signs of shock.

Boris looked at Hank with a weary expression; Hank could tell that Boris’ adrenaline rush had fallen somewhat and he felt weak. Hank watched Boris blink more slowly now and knew he was going into shock.

“Sir?” Anthony prompted.

“Ja, ja, whatever you need to do, er, is that correct, Hank?” Boris asked quietly as he waved his other hand a little.

“Yes, that’s fine; go ahead, do you have a blanket?” Hank said as he smiled tightly at Boris.

Stuart said as he grabbed one from the vehicle, “Sure, here you go. Are all of you together?”

Anton grabbed the blanket, opened it and draped it over Boris’ shoulders.

Hank replied, “Anthony, his numbers are going to be on the low side, but that’s normal for him. Uh, yeah, Boris is my husband, Udo here is our assistant, and Yussef, Jon Michel, Misha, Anton, and Richard are our security.”

“Cool, it’s nice to meet all of you,” Stuart nodded and said, “I’m going to get the stretcher, I’ll be right back.” Misha went with Stuart to assist him.

Anthony showed Hank the numbers and Hank nodded. Hank pointed to the blood pressure number with a bloody finger and said, “That number’s too low, even for him.”

“Ah, no, Hank, I do not want to go on a stretcher, I can walk,” Boris said quietly as he looked at Hank pleadingly and reached out to hold Hank’s upper arm with his other hand. He felt quite tired and sick to his stomach.

“Boris, I know you don’t want to do that, but we have to go the hospital to get this checked out and properly set your arm in a cast; the sooner this happens, the better it will heal. And I really don’t think that you can walk right now,” Hank said gently.

“Could we not just have it, or whatever you need just brought up to the Penthouse? I do not feel well, Hank, and I would like to go home to the Penthouse now,” Boris said more quietly as he looked away in a daze.

“What do you mean, you don’t feel well? Tell me,” Hank asked firmly and moved his head to capture Boris’ gaze and placed one bloodied hand on Boris’ shoulder.

Boris swayed a little bit (Udo and Anton still held onto him from behind) and he said as he looked at his arm, “Of course, this is excruciatingly painful and my head aches, but my stomach is upset, too; maybe the pizza, ja?” Boris said slowly as he looked at Hank.

Stuart and Misha came over to them with the stretcher and lowered it and Stuart moved various pieces of medical equipment around it in preparation for it to receive Boris.

“I understand Boris, after what happened, that’s pretty normal. No, it wasn’t the pizza, your adrenaline level is coming down now and you’re probably experiencing shock. Please Boris, we need to take you to the hospital,” Hank said gently and smiled at Boris in a way he hoped Boris would see the logic in the situation. Hank took his bloodied right hand, wiped it on his trouser leg and then held Boris’ face for a moment, his left hand still held Boris’ shoulder.

“Ah, I suppose you are right and I did promise to follow your directions always, ja?” Boris said with a weary voice and nodded slowly, “Help me up so I may, at least, get upon that contraption on my own, will you?”

Hank and Udo and Richard moved to help Boris to stand, Anthony was close by as he had a feeling he would be needed in a moment; Anton was also poised to help.

Boris stood up shaking; he looked at Hank, blinked very slowly once as his blood pressure plummeted and he collapsed where he stood. Hank, Anthony, Richard, Yussef, and Stuart all moved as one and caught Boris before he hit the ground; they carried him to lie on the stretcher. Udo held Boris’ head steady as the collapse had weakened his neck and his head fell backwards at a sharp angle. Stuart placed an oxygen tube under Boris’ nose, guided the tubes around his ears and down his chest and then adjusted the pressure on the oxygen tank.

Boris said quietly as he looked up at Hank with a bleary expression, “I had not planned to do that.”

“It’s okay, Boris, just rest now,” Hank said as he looked down at Boris.

Hank looked around and saw the expressions on Udo’s face, as well as the team’s faces and said, “He’s going to be all right, guys, don’t worry.”

Anthony said to Hank, “I’m going to give him an IV, can he take a liquid pain reducer?”

Stuart then unbuttoned and opened Boris’ shirt somewhat so that he could attach the medical sensors at different places on Boris’ chest.

“Yeah, ibuprofen is best for him, but start in a low dosage, he’s really sensitive to medications,” Hank said.

At that moment, the mother of the child in the stroller (who had made sure another woman was with her child - it was her sister) stepped up to the stretcher and had her arm around the teary-eyed skateboarder, she said, “Excuse me, but is that man going to be okay? He helped us both and we wanted to thank him.”

The young boy looked completely frightened and tears fell from his eyes and made long streaks down on his dirty cheeks; his helmet was crooked on his head, one strap had broken, he clutched his broken skateboard to his chest (as he fingered the broken portion), and said quietly, to everyone, “I’m so sorry, the wheel broke, I couldn’t stop falling, I’m so sorry...”

Boris looked over at the two of them, tried to smile and only half showed; he reached outward with his unbroken arm and placed his shaking hand on the boy’s slight shoulder as he looked from the woman to the boy, “You have no injuries? Tell me you are both well, ja?”

The woman said, “My baby is fine, she was just scared out of her sleep, that’s all. Thank you, sir.”

Boris blinked at her and said in Russian, “Khorosho,” (then in English) “Er, I mean, good.”

The boy sniffled and his eyes were wide as Boris gently asked him, “What is your name, son?”

“I’m Tommy, and I’m so sorry, mister, I didn’t mean to hurt you...” Tommy words trailed off as he was embarrassed on so many levels at this point. In Tommy’s mind he felt horrible that he had hurt this man so badly that he was bleeding, that he himself was almost hurt and was saved by the same man, that he almost hurt a baby, that his board was totaled, that he almost crashed into a tree, that lots of people were looking at him, that there were policemen around and what looked like some secret police guys nearby (Yussef and the others) and he was crying in public. Tommy thought, ‘This is the worse day ever...’

Boris said in a gentle voice as he hoped to calm the boy, “Tom-mee, do not worry, I shall be fine; I have all of these good people around me who are medical experts, see this? If you need help, please ask them, do not be boyus’ (Russian), er, I mean, do not be afraid. Never be afraid to ask for help, ja?”

Tommy nodded sadly, looked down at the ground and then he and the woman walked away. She began to comfort Tommy even though he wasn’t her child.

Hank, Anthony, and Stuart smiled slightly at this and continued to get Boris settled with the IV, the sensors, the monitors, and to lie comfortably on the stretcher, his head now cradled on a small pillow. Hank arranged the blanket across Boris’ body and looked at his pale face.

Boris then asked, “Where is Udo and our men? Are they all right? Hank?”

Udo came over to the stretcher and looked down at Boris, placed his hands gently on Boris’ upper arm – the unbroken arm - smiled slightly and said, “Here I am Master, and we are all here and well. Do not worry about us. I will be with you and Dr. Hank in the ambulance. The rest will meet us at Hospital. Please rest now,” Udo continued to speak to Boris quietly to try and comfort him.

 

Anthony and Stuart were putting the supplies and cases back into the ambulance and they heard this exchange. Anthony motioned his head to Hank, they stepped away from the stretcher and asked, “Your assistant just called him ‘master’, uh, I’m not trying to be nosey or anything, but is there something we should know about? Wait, this is why you have security guards, right? Will he need extra security at the hospital? Is he a foreign dignitary from Europe or something like that?” Anthony had noticed Boris’ accent.

“Uh, well, let’s just say he’s kinda important and if we can swing as much privacy as possible, that would be a really great; he doesn’t do well in crowds,” Hank said quietly and sighed deeply.

Udo suddenly came over to Hank and Anthony, touched Hank’s arm and said with concern, “Pardon me, Dr. Hank, but He is starting to speak mostly in Russian now.”

“Oh, crap, uh, okay, Udo, stay with him, talk to him and try and keep him calm,” Hank said as he looked from Udo to Anthony and now Stuart who had joined them. Udo stepped quickly back to Boris’ side.

“What’s wrong?” Stuart asked as he stepped towards them.

“When Boris starts speaking in another language, as if it is English, he’s hit a wall; show me how much is going into the IV and can we get him to hospital now?” Hank said with concern.

The three of them stepped back to the stretcher and noticed Boris had started to shiver. They adjusted the IV, laid another blanket across Boris, and prepared to load the stretcher into ambulance.

Hank looked down at Boris and smiled tightly; Boris blinked slowly and another shiver made him move slightly.

Boris said to Hank, quietly in Russian, as if Hank could understand him, “Oh, Hank, I am so glad you are here. May we go home now?” Shock had settled in.

Udo translated for Hank, and then Hank said, “We’ve got one stop at the hospital to get a few things checked and then we’ll be back at the Penthouse soon.”

Boris blinked at Hank, mumbled the Russian equivalent of “Huh, what did you say?” and tilted his head slightly on the pillow because Boris did not understand Hank, but then nodded a moment later as Udo translated what Hank said into Russian.

“Ja, all right, I suppose,” Boris said quietly, now in German, and he began to close his eyes as the substance in the IV began to kick in.

Hank quickly thought to himself that he just had to start learning Russian and German because, ‘What if Udo isn’t around?’ Then Hank knitted his eyebrows as he saw Boris’ eyes roll upward before his eyelids closed, turned and asked Stuart, “Is there a sedative in that pain med?”

Stuart replied, “Yeah, but only a little bit though, its standard for us to use it now because it helps keep the patient quiet during transport.”

“Oh, I wish I would have known that,” Hank’s mind went into overdrive and he looked at a fearful Udo who nodded.

As they loaded Boris and the stretcher into the ambulance, Stuart asked, “Is something wrong?”

“He doesn’t do well with sedatives,” Hank replied as he climbed into the ambulance and helped Udo to climb up as well.

Anthony closed the back doors and went around the vehicle to the driver’s side, got in, and put the vehicle into gear.

Stuart asked, “What do you mean?”

“He has hallucinations and he thrashes around,” Hank said with worry, “We can keep the IV fluids going in, but we need to take out the addition, okay?”

Stuart had reached up just as Hank said “...thrashes...” and then blocked the sedative/pain medication from the IV, “Sorry about that, we’ve never had anyone react badly, it’s only a slight dosage, so I didn’t think twice about it. We won’t take a chance. We’ll have to wait until we get to the hospital for just the regular pain reducer though; these ambulances are only stocked with mixture.”

Udo said, “Dr. Hank, perhaps the Master did not receive too much in the short time it was in the IV?”

“Yeah, you might be right, Udo, we’ll just watch him closely,” Hank replied as he looked up at the monitors and Stuart finished attaching the sensor wires from his now unconscious Boris to the monitors; Hank was really concerned because the IV drip was on full strength.

 

While Anthony drove the ambulance, he radioed to the hospital about their inbound patient, along with a request for a private section and extra hospital security.

Hank asked, “What hospital are we going to?”

Stuart said, “Stoneybrook’s emergency room.”

Hank said, “Oh.”

 

They brought Boris on the stretcher into the emergency room and into an area which appeared to be more private than the rest of the ER. Two hospital police were there and nodded to them. Anthony, Stuart and Hank met with the ER doctor and nurse, and they discussed Boris’ situation. Anthony, Hank, and Stuart helped the doctor and two orderlies lift Boris from the stretcher onto the hospital bed. Udo stood by Boris and watched the nurse re-establish Boris with the monitors. Hank was grateful that no one recognized him.

Hank thanked Anthony and Stuart and they gave him a contact card and asked that Hank let them know how Boris was doing as time went on; Hank said he would call them either later that evening or the next day and thanked them for their help. They smiled with tight expressions at one another and the paramedics left the ER.

The ER doctor and nurse then set to work on Boris; they took off his jacket and cut away the bloody sleeve of his shirt just above his elbow and prepared to remove Udo’s tie from around Boris’ arm. When they removed the tie, Hank was relieved to see that no blood flowed out of Boris’ arm, and this was a possible sign meant that no major blood vessels were damaged. A portable x-ray machine was brought in and images of his arm from different angle were taken. 

Boris, now mostly in a daze, moaned and mumbled something when they turned his arm slightly for the different angles of x-rays.

Udo’s eyebrows went upward as he heard what Boris had mumbled, it was in German and it was a very colorful description of what Boris wanted to do to whoever was moving his arm at the moment, and it mostly was about ripping something. Udo translated for Hank and then Hank’s eyebrows went upward.

Hank nodded and asked, “He might be coming out of the sedative, watch out because he won’t be happy and could thrash around; and, he’s going to need more pain reducer at the moment.”

The ER doctor, Dr. Simons, said, “The sedative they use in the ambulance mixture isn’t that much.”

“Yeah, okay, but you don’t know him like we do,” Hank said and wanted to immediately go over and adjust the IV himself, then said, “You’re busy, do you mind if I adjust the IV?”

Dr. Simons asked, “Are you a doctor here?”

As Hank started to reply, (as a stern-looking woman in a navy suit walked into the room), and said in an equally stern voice, “Well, good afternoon, Dr. Lawson; fancy seeing you here today.”

Hank’s shoulders fell slightly, he turned, smiled but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, and said, “Oh, hello, Ms. Crawford, how are you?”

“I am doing well, thank you for asking. I wanted to check on our VIP, and why we needed extra security, and I am so surprised to see you now, too. Why are YOU here...Dr... Lawson?” Ms. Crawford asked warily and she paused when she said the word: doctor. She saw his bloodied hands and the blood stain on his trouser leg.

Udo watched this interaction and decided that he didn’t like Ms. Crawford in the least bit because of the way she talked to Dr. Hank. He later learned that Ms. Crawford was the Assistant Hospital Administrator and knew Dr. Hank from that rather ugly Garner situation which happened a few years ago.

Just then, most of their team arrived and positioned themselves around the immediate area to guard Hank and Boris, and these actions seemed to annoy Ms. Crawford further and she asked loudly, “What is the meaning of this?! Who are all of these men?! Who is this patient?! I need some answers, right now!”

Hank wanted to say that it was a good thing she wasn’t a doctor because her bedside manner really sucked at the moment, but what Hank calmly said was, “Ms. Crawford, please try and keep your voice down, this is a hospital, you know. This patient is Mr. Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz-Lawson and he is my husband; Udo here is our assistant (Udo nodded once although he really didn’t want to) and Yussef, Jon Michel, and Richard (they did not nod but watched her with wary expressions) are of SOME of our security team. There was an accident in Central Park and Boris was badly injured. Trust me; I would rather for all of us to be completely somewhere else right now, but my husband needs immediate medical care and this where we were taken. Thank YOU for asking.”

Everyone looked at Ms. Crawford, including Dr. Simons and the nurse and the only sound in the area was the soft beeping of Boris’ monitors.

“Hank?” Boris said quietly.

Everyone turned to look at Boris.

Hank’s head snapped in Boris’ direction and he walked quickly over to Boris’ beside and ignored Ms. Crawford completely; Hank took Boris’ hand (on the uninjured arm) with both of his hands, held it gently because it had the IV in it, looked at Boris and smiled with concern, “I’m here, Boris. How do you feel?”

“I am in pain, Hank, my arm feels as if it is burning,” Boris replied in a low voice.

The doctor and the nurse now turned away from Ms. Crawford and quickly turned back to Boris. They picked up where they had left off from their care of Boris. 

Hank said, as he looked at Dr. Simons and said, “Dr. Simons here is now giving you a little more pain medication, right, Dr. Simons?” Hank nodded his head at Dr. Simons.

Dr. Simons adjusted the pain medication in the IV and said, “Hello Sir, yes, I’ve adjusted it now and this formula doesn’t have a sedative in it. You should start feeling some relief in a moment or two. I’m Dr. Simons and this is Nurse Jackie, we’ll be taking care of you this afternoon. Now, this is going to hurt some, we have to cleanse the wound, close it up with a few stitches and do an ultrasound on the area to make sure nothing else is damaged inside. The x-rays will be ready in a moment and, if everything looks good, we’ll encase your arm in a cast. We’re also going to have to give you some antibiotics to help ward off any infection. Anytime there is a break like this, the open wound invites trouble.”

Boris said quietly as he looked at Dr. Simons, “Ja, all right, doctor, thank you, I shall try to be a good patient,” Boris turned his head to look at Hank again and he smiled slightly at him, “Are you well, Hank? And Udo, and our men?”

“Yeah, we’re all just fine and we’re here in this room with you; this is all about you right now,” Hank said as he leaned close and smiled wider. Hank hoped to impart some comfort to Boris with his smile. Their gazes locked; Hank’s eyes were bright blue in the bright ER room; Boris’ eyes looked silver but they didn’t have half of the energy in them as Hank’s did and his eyelids were half closed. Hank didn’t like the pale shade of Boris’ skin.

At that moment, Nurse Jackie was cleansing the wound and a jolt of pain shot through Boris which caused him to take a sharp intake of breath; his whole body cringed, his heart monitor beeped furiously and an alarm went off, and he grasped Hank’s hand tightly; Boris’ face grimaced with his eyes tightly shut, but he didn’t say a word...in any language.

Hank said as he looked from Boris to the nurse and then to Boris, “Hey, don’t pop out the IV, Strong Man. Nurse Jackie, can you give him a local so he’s a little more comfortable? Thanks. I have a sneaky feeling that we’d have to give you so much pain reducer, Boris, to help you not feel what is going on that you’d pass out and I don’t think you would enjoy that.”

Boris, still with his eyes shut and his lips thin in a grimace shook his head once fiercely.

“Yes, of course,” Nurse Jackie said as she injected the local anesthesia into Boris’ arm just below his elbow in two places.

At that point, no one looked at Ms. Crawford any longer; she made a huff sound and turned on her heel and then left the ER.

After the wave of pain subsided, Boris took a deep breath, opened his eyes and then said quietly to Hank, “Look at your hands, Hank.”

Hank did so and realized that he hadn’t yet washed Boris’ (now dried) blood off of them. 

Boris asked, “Is that my blood?”

Hank nodded with a little embarrassment and said, “Excuse me a minute; I’ll be right back.”

 

Several long hours later, Boris’ arm had been tended to and wrapped in a cast from his palm to below his elbow. He had been given some more liquid pain medication and antibiotics, and the local anesthesia was starting to wear off; he could move his fingers a little bit, but it pained him to do so. He said he felt a little numbness as well. Hank had also requested one unit of whole blood be administered, and explained to Dr. Simons that because of Boris’ sensitivity with anything that would trigger his anemia, such as bleeding all over his sleeves from the open wound, a transfusion would lessen his suffering. Boris asked for a cup of coffee, but had to accept orange juice. Udo took the bag with containers of the pill forms of pain relief and antibiotic that had been prepared for Boris from the hospital pharmacy and he held that to his chest. 

As Boris sat up on the hospital bed, Hank buttoned up Boris’ shirt and Nurse Jackie placed the arm in a sling around Boris’ back and opposite shoulder. He nodded his thanks.

Hank thought that Boris looked at little better, the transfusion helped and as they waited for the discharge paperwork, Hank asked, “How do you feel, Boris?”

“Well enough, I suppose; the arm does not have sharp pains as before, which is quite nice. I ache all over though, is that because I fell to the ground?” Boris replied with curiosity.

“Yes, it is. Do you feel dizzy or short of breath or sick to your stomach?” Hank asked as Dr. Simons looked on.

“No, I do not; but I have not stood up as yet. When I do so, that may require me to change my answer,” Boris replied; then Boris looked at Dr. Simons and said, “Thank you, doctor, for your care today; and thank you, Nurse Jackie, for your assistance as well.”

“You’re welcome,” They replied in unison.

Boris put his other hand to his forehead and moved it down across his eyes, his cheeks and smoothed his circle beard. He blinked and looked around the area with an expression that said he could fall into a sleep at any moment and said, “I fear that I shall not be able to walk back to the Penthouse, Hank; I am very weary now.”

Hank said with a smile, “I wouldn’t let you do that even if you were feeling 100%, Boris,” And he wasn’t going to tell Boris just how exhausted he looked or just how far they were from the Penthouse.

Udo said, “Sir, Misha and Anton have gone back to the building and are retrieving two of the vehicles for us,” He looked at his watch, “They should be here very soon. The ride back will be swift and we shall be up in the Penthouse in a short while.”

“Thank you, Udo,” Boris said quietly, paused as he looked at Udo and continued, “I shall have to get you a new tie, Udo; thank you for sharing yours with me.”

“I already have many ties, Master; please do not worry about that. Oh! The cars are here now, Sirs,” Udo said with a smile as he looked at his phone. He was anxious to get everyone safely back to the Penthouse.

“We’re still waiting for your discharge papers,” Dr. Simons said.

Boris looked at the doctor and said with a business-Boris voice, “I do not wish to be held up any longer, especially by paperwork, doctor; you can have someone email it to Udo, ja? I have been here long enough and wish to go home now. Thank you both again. Hank? Yussef? Would you please assist me to the, er, wheelchair...” Boris said the last word with distain in his voice and he rubbed his eyes again. As they helped Boris off of the hospital bed, he was a little shaky and he clutched at Hank with his one good hand; and though they held him, Boris sat down heavily in the wheelchair. Boris looked up at Hank and said quietly, “Please take me home, to the Penthouse, Hank, would you?”

Hank smiled kindly as he looked down at Boris; then said cheerfully, “Of course, Boris; hey, thanks Dr. Simons and Nurse Jackie!”

Ms. Crawford did not return to the emergency room that afternoon.


	27. Recuperate, Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To regain what has been lost:   
> “Where are your slippers?” Hank asked.   
> “I do not know that either,” Boris said...

It was now early evening and when they got home, Boris asked if they could go and sit out on the Terrace. It was a comfortable warm temperature and the space was shaded now. Hank would have preferred that Boris go right to bed, but Boris wanted fresh air. Hank and Udo settled Boris comfortably on one of the lounge chairs, after they helped him to remove his cut and bloodied jacket, to don his dressing gown over his shirt and trousers so he would not get chilled, and then resettled the sling and arranged some pillows to help him feel more at ease; Udo went to prepare them a snack and some tea.

Hank said, “I’m sorry to say this Boris, but I think our date night, tonight, is out of the question.”

Boris looked at Hank with a resigned expression and replied, “Ja, I know you are right. Besides, if I were to walk about with this cast and my cane, people may think that you have been beating me, eh?”

“You humor is so dark sometimes, Tree,” Hank said with a tight smile, “I have a thought that I’d like to run by you. Let’s stay here for the rest of the week and maybe next week while you recuperate. We really don’t have to be back at Shadow Pond for anything. I can reassign all of my HankMed patients, and Joanne’s minding the Infirmary; when you are feeling a little better, we can think about having date night again, if you want,” Hank suggested cheerfully.

“This sounds like a proper thing to do, Hank, I agree. Ah, thank you, Udo, that looks delicious,” Boris said as Udo brought over a tray which had on it a delicate bone china plate that held small Chinese dumplings, chopsticks, a small bowl of dark dipping sauce, as well as slices of melon and pot of green tea with two Asian-style tea cups.

“Udo...Boris and I have decided to stay here for at least the rest of this week and maybe the next; can you please help me to rearrange everything for us?” Hank asked politely.

“Of course, Dr. Hank, this is a sound decision,” Udo looked at both of them and smiled, “This will be a nice way for you to recover, Sir. I will take care of all of this for you and shall notify Shadow Pond, Festung, Ms. Diane, and will postpone your dining and entertainment reservations. Allow me to talk now with the chef and her assistant so they can adjust their schedules, as well. I shall also take care of having more of your things brought over from Shadow Pond.” 

With this development, Udo now started to plan in his mind the retrieval of more of their clothing and personal things from Shadow Pond and have it all brought to the Penthouse to make their stay in New York feel more completely like home. Everyone would be shifting gears as well. This would happen within the next two days and it would be unseen by the Masters and seamless to their overall stay.

“Thanks so much, Udo; you’re awesome,” Hank said gratefully.

“Udo, would you ask the chef to make some soup for me this evening? Something simple, I am too weary to manage anything more and certainly nothing that I should need two hands to hold the tableware with. Ah, perhaps I should be eating a good deal of soup for a while, ja? Hank, what would you like for dinner?” Boris asked as he turned on the lounge chair slowly, and by the look on his face, somewhat painfully; he swung his legs over and down and placed his feet, which were still in his shoes, on the Terrace floor and now faced the low table that the snack had been placed on in front of him. Boris had to take a few deep breaths as the movement had taxed him. He adjusted his casted arm to lie across a small pillow that he had placed on his thighs and sighed deeply. 

“Soup is fine for me, too,” Hank replied as he watched Boris and thought about how just those simple movements looked to have drained Boris of energy.

“Very good, Sirs, please enjoy. Oh, I placed the new medication bottles on your bathroom vanity. Please call if you need me,” Udo said simply and bowed slightly.

“Udo...thank you for your help today; we have not had anything like this happen to us before, eh?” Boris said in a low voice and with some wonder.

“Oh, no Master, this is a new one,” Udo said cheerfully as he hoped to lighten the mood and he then walked back into the Penthouse.

The two men ate in silence for a few moments and the food seemed to revive Boris a little; he especially looked more at ease as he sipped the hot green tea.

“How are you, my beloved One?” Boris suddenly asked.

“Me? Oh, I’m fine, just a little tired. I still can’t believe this happened to you! What a completely random and bizarre accident!” Hank said in amazement, as he looked at his hands and noticed that some of Boris’ dried blood was still under his fingernails; “You know, I should call Evan and let him know that we’ll be up here for at least a week. Do you mind if I tell him what happened?”

As Boris decided that three dumplings and one small piece of melon was all that he needed to eat, he took another sip of his tea and nodded his head, and then obviously in pain, he swung his legs back onto the lounge chair, leaned back and said, “Ja, that is fine, we do not want him to worry; call him now if you wish, we can speak with him together.”

Hank smiled, pulled out his phone, dialed Evan, and tapped the speaker phone button, “Hi Evan, how’s it going?”

“Hey, Bro! It’s all good,” Evan replied happily.

“Boris and I have you on speaker right now,” Hank said.

“Hi Boris, what’s shakin’?” Evan asked.

“Er...” Boris looked up at Hank with the ‘What does that mean?’ expression and Hank mouthed: ‘How are you?’ Boris continued, “Ah, well, what is not shaking, Evan, is my broken arm,” Boris was tired but felt that this call to Evan could be an amusing distraction.

“Your WHAT?! Has Henry been beating you up again,” Evan teased.

“Hey, Evan! I DO NOT beat my husband, don’t even joke about that,” Hank said this jokingly but actually meant it.

“Seriously, Boris, you have a broken arm? You didn’t have one when you left for New York. What happened, uh, if you don’t mind me asking?” Evan asked with a respectful tone of voice.

Hank said, “Long story short, Evan, we were walking in Central Park, you know, by the Bow Bridge? And this young kid on a skateboard, well, somehow a wheel on the board split apart which threw him into Boris and almost into a stroller with a baby in it and a direct path to take a header into a tree. Boris swung the kid around so that the kid missed the stroller and the tree.”

“No way!” Evan said in amazement.

“Yes, way, Evan...” Boris smiled a bit in spite of his current physical discomfort as he was proud of himself that he had used a phrase that Hank had taught him in the proper way, “And the momentum forced me to hit a concrete bench.”

“Damn! That sounds like it hurt!” Evan said.

“Ja, Evan, it is quite uncomfortable and terribly inconvenient,” Boris stated.

Hank chimed in, “Yeah, Evan, Boris’ left radius bone suffered a compound fracture and...”

“Don’t say any more, Bro, I know that your description is going to get pretty gross because I know what a compound fracture is. I bet you didn’t know that I knew that, right? Anyway, that’s a bummer, Boris, I’m sorry to hear this and that you’re in pain. I know that Hank will take good care of you, though,” Evan said with compassion.

“Thank you, Evan, there are two pieces of positive news which we must share in that the child in the stroller and the boy on the skateboard were both unharmed. Although I do believe the boy suffered a deep embarrassment,” Boris said and then closed his eyes and leaned his head further back.

“Oh, good to hear,” Evan said, “I mean that the kids weren’t hurt.”

Hank watched Boris and thought that Boris would probably be asleep in moments, he said, “So, Evan, we’re going to stay here at the Penthouse for at least a week, maybe a little longer as Boris recuperates. We didn’t want you to worry about where we were, and if you need anything, just call okay?”

“Thanks, Bro, that’s thoughtful of you, I appreciate that. Can I do anything for you guys?” Evan asked.

Hank stood up and walked around the table to stand next to Boris; he looked down and saw that Boris had fallen asleep. Hank walked a few steps away to finish talking with Evan without the speaker on; and he spoke quietly into the phone, “We’re good right now, Evan, we got home from the hospital a little while ago and we’re out on the Terrace; Boris just now fell asleep on the lounge chair. Gees, Evan...this is terrible, he really got banged up badly; but he saved the kid and the baby. He’s not only going to have put up with pain of the broken arm, but he hit the bench and the ground hard, um, I think he might have even bruised something inside. Tomorrow, Boris is going to feel really awful; I feel so bad for him.”

“Bruises on bruises, yeah, I get that. Are you okay, Bro?” Evan asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just tired, it’s been a long day for us,” Hank replied as he looked again at Boris’ dried blood under his fingernails.

Evan said, “You...really do love your husband, don’t you, Bro. I can hear it in your voice. That’s so cool. Well, take care, I’ll hold down the fort here.”

Hank chuckled, “Yeah, he’s everything to me. Thanks, Evan, talk to you later.”

Hank went back over to Boris and touched his forehead tenderly; Hank knew Boris’ temperature by touch even without the gauge, and his temperature felt normal. He also took Boris’ pulse and crouched down to put his ear to his chest to listen to his lungs; both seemed normal. He would have to watch for signs of infection because Hank didn’t know just how sanitary the ice bath was that he thrust Boris’ arm into, and knew that every time there is a tear in the skin with that kind of a break, as well as a bone being exposed to air, it is literally like putting out the welcome mat for microbes. 

Satisfied that Boris was fine for the moment, Hank went back into the apartment and washed up in the bathroom and he took extra care to get the dried blood out from under his fingernails. Afterwards, he retrieved his laptop and brought it out on the Terrace where he emailed Joanne and told her what happened, and he asked her to manage the Infirmary, but that she could call him at any time if she needed to; and then did the same with Divya and Jeremiah, Steven, and Vera and reassigned his HankMed patients back into their queue.

Udo came out on the Terrace with a blanket and covered Boris from chest to feet.

Hank stepped away from Boris for a moment, dug out the paramedics contact card from his pocket and called them. 

“Yeah, hi, guys, its Dr. Hank Lawson,” Hank said.

“Hey, Dr. Hank, how is Boris doing?” Stuart asked.

“We’re home now and everything is okay; Boris is asleep right now. There weren’t any complications like a damaged artery or anything and his arm is in a cast now. We’d both like to thank you for your help today,” Hank said sincerely.

“Great news, just keep a watch out for infection, I hope they gave you antibiotics,” Anthony offered.

“Yeah, we’re all set. Really thank you very much. Hey, I have an idea. If you have some time within the next day or so, could you come by for an afternoon visit? I think that Boris might enjoy seeing you both. He would probably want to thank you in person...he does stuff like that.” Hank said.

“That would be awesome, Dr. Hank, thanks, let’s shoot for the day after tomorrow, unless we get a call, you know,” Anthony replied.

“Great! Three o’clock is our coffee time, so come join us for coffee and a snack. I’ll ask Udo to send you our address and provide you clearance into the building. See you then! Good night guys,” Hank said cheerfully.

“Okay! Night, Dr. Hank,” Stuart replied for the both of them.

 

Two hours later, Boris was still asleep and Hank was randomly surfing the web. Hank told Udo about the paramedics coming to visit and Udo said he would be delighted to take care of the specifics and also have a special afternoon service prepared for their visitors. 

After a short while, Udo then came out to say that dinner was nearly ready. Udo suggested that they take their meal at the dining table and Hank agreed. Udo set about to draw the draperies and turned on the lamps; Hank put his laptop away and came back out to wake Boris.

As Hank sat down next to Boris on the lounge chair, Boris awoke and looked at Hank in the dim light; the lights from the apartment lit Hank’s face softly and he smiled at Boris, “Hi, Sleepy Head. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Already? Were we not just now speaking with Evan?” Boris asked as he was confused.

“That was over two hours ago,” Hank said.

“Ah, I see,” Boris replied.

 

As they sat at the dining table and enjoyed the Beef and Tomato Noodle Soup, Boris said, “Hank, I cannot fathom why I ache so much. It is nearly more painful than the broken bone; is there something wrong?”

“No, not at the moment; here’s the thing, Boris, you had a tremendous shock hit your system, the adrenaline rush, the sudden muscle tension, the impact that caused the bone to break, the injury through the skin and muscle, and then you hit the bench and the ground really hard. All of that adds up to what you are feeling right now. I would like to suggest that after dinner, you go straight to bed and you might want to take a pain pill. We can start with half and see how you react. It might help you sleep – which is what you need right now,” Hank replied. 

“All right then,” Boris said as he shifted in his chair slightly and grimaced; he had only eaten a little over half of his small bowl of soup, “If you do not mind, Hank, I think I should lie down now.”

“Sure, come on, let me help you,” Hank said as he rose from his chair.

Hank helped Boris to stand and walked with him over to the bedroom and helped him to change into his silk pajamas. Boris used the facilities (he was in pain and it was difficult) and then slowly walked back over to the bed and sat down carefully. Hank had prepared for him a half of a pain pill and one of the antibiotics as well as a glass of water. Boris took the medicine and Hank helped him settle into bed and removed the sling. Boris had trouble getting comfortable until the pain pill started to work. 

Udo knocked politely on their door at that moment and asked if they needed anything else for the night, to which they said no and wished him a good night and expressed their gratitude. Udo saw the pained look on his Master’s face and wished for him and Dr. Hank a sound night’s sleep, then excused himself and left the master side of the Penthouse to go to his own room to rest.

Hank sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Boris. As Hank had helped Boris to change clothes, Hank saw the beginnings of bruises which were forming on Boris’ body which, in a day or so, would be very noticeable and Hank knew that Boris would be somewhat shocked when he saw them. Hank also began to watch for signs of fever, which would indicate that an infection was setting in. Hank was hopeful that the antibiotics would do the trick and Boris’ own natural immunity would be strong enough to ward it off.

Boris looked up at Hank with a weary, but loving, expression and said, “You have rescued me again, my beloved One. This is a habit of ours, ja? I am very grateful to you for your quick actions today,” Boris paused a moment and then continued, “I know what I ask next is a strange question, but, I am curious...”

“About what?” Hank said with a smile.

“What did it feel like when you, your fingers, were inside the flesh of my arm?” Boris asked as if he was a curious boy.

Hank smiled widely and couldn’t resist answering like another curious boy and replied, “A little squishy.”

“Ah, quite,” Boris said; then after a moment, his eye lids began to droop and he said, “I shall...” Boris didn’t finish his sentence.

Hank sat there for a few minutes more and took Boris’ vital signs; he kissed Boris good night on his forehead, got up and turned off every light except the one by his side of the bed. Hank lingered by the bedroom doorway for a moment, looked back at Boris, and then closed it most of the way.

Hank went and found a cold bottle of beer in the refrigerator and went out on the Terrace. He sat there at the seating area for some time, and sipped on the beer and thought about the day. He recalled in his mind about how Boris fast had moved and deflected the runaway momentum of the skateboarder and marveled at Boris reflexes. Hank thought about little Tommy and how miserable he looked; Hank hoped that Tommy would be okay and felt good that the baby was unharmed. Hank continued to drink his beer and gazed out at the skyline of New York.

 

~~~

 

A little while had gone by and Hank jolted awake. He looked around and discovered that he was still out on the Terrace, had finished the beer and had fallen asleep in the chair. Hank looked at his wrist watch and it told him that is was almost two a.m. Hank ran his hands through his hair, rubbed his face and stood up. He went into the Penthouse, closed the slider door, brought the bottle to the kitchen and set it by the sink. He left one light on in the living area and then went to the bedroom. Boris was where Hank had left him three hours ago (he had not moved) and checked his vital signs – Boris did not notice this at all. Hank thought to himself that Boris was a little too deep into sleep for his liking and decided that Boris would only take one quarter of the pain pills moving forward...Hank was concerned about the strength level and formulation of the pain medication that the hospital had given them.

Hank prepared himself for bed and climbed in; he placed himself close to Boris and reached over to move some hair from his forehead and laid his hand on Boris’ cheek. Boris did not move or respond other than he took a deep breath and his lips remained slightly separated. Hank put his head down on his pillow and quickly fell asleep.

 

Hank awoke about 8:30 a.m., late for Hank, and found Boris asleep beside him but on his right side with the casted arm fully supported by the bed. Hank touched Boris’ skin and it felt a little warm – for Boris – but his breathing was steady. Hank got out of bed and went into the bathroom; and then walked out into the main area of the Penthouse and found it so sunny that he had to squint and hold a hand up in front of his face for a moment until his eyes adjusted to the bright light. He wandered into the kitchen and there was a pot of hot coffee waiting for them and a note from Udo which read:

Good morning, Sirs,   
Please call me when you awaken and I shall prepare your breakfast post haste.   
I remain at your service, Udo.

Hank smiled and poured himself a cup of coffee, stood there for a few moments and leaned against the quartz counter as he sipped on the coffee and stared at the refrigerator. He found himself still too sleepy to make decisions and then stared out through the Penthouse and out to the Terrace. 

Hank was halfway through his cup of coffee when he saw movement and watched as Boris plodded slowly from the bedroom across the living area to the slider doors and stood there with slumped shoulders; Boris leaned against the door frame (on his uninjured side) and looked out and around for what Hank guessed was himself. Hank refreshed his coffee and poured a cup for Boris and walked out of the kitchen towards Boris with a cup in each hand and said, “Good morning, Husband, you’re up early.”

Boris flinched in surprise, grimaced, and turned slowly in the direction of Hank’s voice; he held the cast against his body with the other arm as if it would fall off at any moment, had his dressing gown haphazardly hanging on his shoulders and over his pajamas and it was untied and the belt trailed behind him, he was barefoot, his hair was a wild mess, and there was silver stubble on his cheeks; he started to say something, but had to clear his voice and then said, “Good morning, my beloved One.”

Hank came up to Boris and looked up at him with compassion, Boris looked a wreck; Hank smiled and said, “Fresh coffee.”

Boris smiled slightly and tried to take the cup Hank proffered to him, but he changed his mind because he would have to let go of his casted arm, Boris shook his head and looked confused, “Eh...I do not have enough hands,” was all Boris could say at the moment.

“Hang on,” Hank said with a smile and put the cups down on a nearby credenza, “Let’s get you straightened up here...now, hold your arm. Where’s your sling?”

“I do not know,” Boris said simply as Hank reset his dressing gown on his shoulders, folded his collar down, buttoned a button that had come undone at his belly and straightened everything out to belt it.

“Where are your slippers?” Hank asked.

“I do not know that either,” Boris said, “It looks pleasant outside, may we go sit there?”

“Sure, let me check, stay here,” Hank said as he opened the heavy slider doors, “Oh, yeah, it’s really nice. Come on, let’s get you comfortable, I’ll bring you the coffee and then go find the sling and your slippers.”

Hank helped Boris walk and as he held him, he could feel Boris’ tentativeness and stiffness and could only imagine the kind of aches that Boris was enduring at the moment. Boris grimaced when Hank placed his hand on his lower back and Hank began to think that Boris might have injured his kidneys.

“You know, Hank, if I sit down, I shall not be able to get up for a while,” Boris offered and he slowly moved along side Hank.

“Then we’ll find you the best spot for you to camp out at for a while,” Hank said cheerfully, “Let’s sit over here at the outdoor dining table because I’m going to ask Udo for our breakfast soon.”

Boris replied, rather passively, “All right,” as Boris sat down gingerly.

As Hank got Boris comfortable, with extra throw pillows to cradle the arm on his lap and for his back, his coffee within comfortable reach of his other hand and Hank’s loving hands combing the wild silver mane, Hank asked, “How’s that feel?”

Boris sighed and looked up at Hank, “Good, thank you, my love.”

“You’re in pain right now, huh? From 1 to 10, how do you feel?” Hank said with a more serious expression.

“Ja, a 14,” Was all Boris said as he looked up at Hank with a look that showed a haunted look of pain and weariness along with a plea to make it go away somehow.

Hank nodded his head and said, “Drink your coffee; I’m going to get some things for you and ask for our breakfast; stay put.”

“Ah, you can be assured that I shall ‘stay put’, Hank; I could not move at this moment even if my pajamas were on fire,” Boris said with a lopsided grin.

Hank leaned over and kissed Boris gently on the forehead; his lips lingered there for a moment, “You’re so funny...” and turned to go back into the Penthouse.

For a few minutes, Hank was busy: he found Boris’ sling and slippers and a few other things, gathered up all of his medications including the new ones, called Udo, located a tray and filled up a pitcher with water, found two glasses, the insulated coffee pot, and then brought it all out onto the Terrace.

As Hank arranged everything on the outdoor table, refreshed their coffees, poured them glasses of water, put Boris’ slippers on his feet and arranged the sling for his arm, Hank asked, “Okay now, let’s at least get the ibuprofen and the antibiotic in you with a full glass of water, then you can take your regular meds with breakfast. I only want you to take a one-quarter pill at a time now; a half of a pill is too much for you. Are you hungry?”

Boris swallowed the one and one quarter pills with the water, he nodded his head, “Ja, I am somewhat hungry, I hope I will feel a little better after eating something; oh, good lord, that one capsule is so large...ah, however, this is nice, Hank, thank you.” Boris said as Hank started to brush his hair because Hank had brought Boris’ hairbrush from the bathroom, “Are you all right?”

“Me? I’m great now,” Hank said happily as he brushed Boris’ hair and hummed a random jazz tune that he had floating in his mind, “I’m happy we’re home safe and sound.”

Boris smiled in spite of his aching muscles and they both looked up with smiles as Udo entered the Terrace...

 

For the first day after the accident, deemed as a Pajama Day by Hank, Boris spent most of it sleeping either out on the Terrace lounge chair or on the couch in the living area. Each time he would awaken, he seemed a little better and said that he felt less in pain (although Hank knew it was because of the pain medicine) and when Boris did move around, he did so carefully and did utilize his cane. Boris kept moving the fingers on his left hand, one after the other, just bending them slightly in a fashion that looked like he was counting on his fingers; sometimes he would grimace slightly.

Hank asked, “Why are you doing that with your fingers?”

Boris replied, “So that I keep them nimble as I do not want them to stiffen from immobility.”

Hank suggested, “Boris, please just wait until you are healed. This trauma just happened yesterday! You need to understand that this is the way it is, probably for about six weeks if all goes well. The less that the bone is traumatized the faster it heals. Your finger movements are creating stress, and that is taking away from healing. We’ll get x-rays at three weeks and see how you are,” Hank held Boris’ fingers gently.

“I do not want my fingers to stiffen, Hank, if they do, I worry that I shall not be able to play my cello or to type on my computer,” Boris repeated stubbornly although he enjoyed Hank’s warm hand.

“Does it hurt when you do that?” Dr. Hank asked.

“Well, yes, a bit,” Boris said stoically.

“Then don’t do that, or at least do it less so you don’t feel pain. Pain is your body’s way of saying ‘stop it’; we will go into full physical therapy after your broken bone has healed. Let your body heal itself, and with your drive and determination, you’ll have them back to normal in no time,” Dr. Hank said.

Boris looked away for a moment, frustrated at the thought of six weeks.

 

Before going to bed that night, Hank checked Boris’ vital signs and his temperature was slightly elevated.

“Should we be alarmed?” Boris asked.

“Not yet; it’s taken all day to go up a degree. It’s probably your body fighting off any bacteria that might have gotten into the wound or on the exposed bone. That’s always the problem with that type of a fracture...and I think that all of the resting you are doing is helping along with the medication...” Hank instructed. 

Boris nodded and looked at Hank, “You seem to want to say something more.”

“Yeah, I do want us to watch out for something else, too. I think you may also have what is known as a renal contusion, which essentially is a bruised kidney. You seem to be more in pain on your left side at your back and your flank, which makes sense because you hit the bench on that side. The slight fever could be because of that, too; we’ll need to look out for any abdominal swelling or blood in your urine for starters,” Hank continued.

Boris nodded and thought about the discomfort that he experienced in the bathroom earlier; he decided that he would tell Hank tomorrow, that he had seen blood.

“We’ll just keep watch on all of this, but don’t worry about it – stress never helps - and you let me know the moment you feel or see anything unusual, okay?” Hank instructed.

“Thank you, my beloved One,” Boris said as he settled on his pillow and confirmed in his mind that he would tell Hank about it tomorrow – first thing.

 

~~~

 

Throughout the next day, calls came in from everywhere and everyone: Khalil and Chef Henri from Shadow Pond, Divya and Jeremiah, Festung Bank and Diane’s office, Hamptons Heritage, Joanne, Albert in Bonn, and Pieter and Justine from South Africa, even Evan, again - all with well wishes. Offers of assistance to Hank were received as well. Five floral arrangements arrived with get well cards attached to them and Boris was deeply touched by the sentiments and said with amazement, “It is beginning to look like our greenhouse at Shadow Pond, Hank. The perfume from these flowers is divine.”

 

At three o’clock, paramedics Anthony and Stuart arrived to have a coffee service with Boris and Hank. 

When they arrived at the building, Anthony said, “Are we in the right place, Stuart? This is one of the best addresses in Manhattan.”

Stuart replied as they compared what he had written on a post-it note, “I think so, see? Remember what Dr. Hank said about Boris being somebody important, so they can probably afford this address.”

Just as they walked into the lobby and had agreed with each other that they should have changed into nicer clothing, (instead of wearing their uniforms), the Head Doorman looked up from his desk and said warmly, “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Welcome. You are here to see Mr. Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz-Lawson and Dr. Hank Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz, correct? We’ve been expecting you.”

Stuart said, “Um, yes, I think; do they really have that many names? I think I heard a ‘Dr. Hank’ in there somewhere,” (Stuart got lost in all of the last names.)

Anthony smiled said, “Yes, yes, we are.”

“Yes, sirs, they do; may I see your identifications, please,” the Head Doorman asked as he rang the Penthouse, “Fine, thank you, (he handed them back their ID cards); two of their security will be down momentarily to escort you upstairs to the Penthouse.”

“Thank you,” Anthony and Stuart said as one and with their eyebrows raised as they looked around the elegant lobby and wondered about the two men they were going to visit that afternoon.

The elevator opened and Yussef and Richard walked forward to meet the paramedics. All four men greeted each other and said it was good to see one other again.

After a brief ride and conversation in the elevator, Anthony and Stuart were escorted into the Penthouse Foyer and were met by Udo, who also greeted them warmly. Udo said with a smile, “I am so happy to see you gentlemen once again, thank you for coming. The Masters will be most pleased that you are here. I will be serving coffee and something to eat in a few moments; is there anything that you are in need of at this time?”

Anthony replied, “No, I think we’re good. Um, Mr. Udo, we’re actually not dressed properly to meet a dignitary...”

Udo smiled and said kindly as he hoped to assure them, “Please do not worry, Sirs, this is a friendly social visit; there is no need for any ceremony. Please follow me out onto the Terrace.”

Udo walked them through the Penthouse living area and out onto the Terrace and announced them. Anthony looked at Stuart and silently said, “Wow,” as they admired the furnishings of the Penthouse.

Hank was standing near the seating area and Boris was seated there. As Udo led the paramedics out to them, they all smiled widely.

Hank said happily, “Hey, guys! Thanks for coming!” He walked over quickly to shake both of their hands vigorously.

The two men walked a few steps forward and leaned over to shake Boris’ hand and noticed an elegant cane leaning up against the side table.

Boris said, “Welcome, Anthony. Welcome, Stuart. Please accept my apologies, gentlemen, if I do not stand. I find that I am still a bit stiff and have some trouble moving about easily. Ah! It is so good to see the two of you again, please make yourself comfortable here,” As he waved his right hand towards the chairs.

They were all settled into their chairs and Udo excused himself so that he could arrange the food and beverage service.

Stuart asked, “How are you doing, Sir? Anthony and I have been thinking a lot about you and hope that you’re doing okay.”

“All things considered, I am fine,” Boris downplayed his discomfort, “I have the best care; and between Hank and Udo, I should be up and about in no time at all.”

Hank said as he smiled at Boris and then back at the paramedics, “Don’t let him fool you, guys, Boris really took a tumble and he’s hurting.”

Boris smiled at Hank and their connection was not lost on Anthony and Stuart. Anthony and Stuart had become quite curious about Boris and Hank since they had met them in the park as they presented an obviously caring partnership then and seeing them now in their home, the paramedics sensed a further connection between Boris and Hank.

Stuart said, “I see that the hospital gave you one of those sleek new casts, those newer versions cut the weight down by a third.”

“Ja, I suppose so, however at the moment, it feels as though it weighs a good deal more...Udo, thank you, this looks delightful,” Boris said as Udo set the coffee service and food down on the table in front of everyone.

Because Boris felt that the hardworking paramedics would have an appetite, he had requested that they be served a variety of savory pastries and sliced meats, something more substantial than usual. Also on the elaborate tray were pickled vegetables, cheeses, a dish of berry compote, and a separate platter which held different kinds of fruit and flat biscuits. Udo served each man a coffee and neatly arranged the plates, napkins and tableware for them to use.

Udo looked at Hank and then Boris and asked, “Is there anything else that you require at this time, Sirs?”

“This is perfect as always, Udo, thank you very much,” Boris replied with his slight smile.

“Yeah, thanks Udo, this looks great!” Hank said enthusiastically and nodded to Udo as he turned and left.

“Gentlemen, please help yourselves, I’m certain that you work up quite an appetite in your line of work. Hank, please get us started, ja?” Boris said graciously.

Hank didn’t need to be told twice to dig in as, of course, he was always hungry, “I’ll fix your plate, Boris, don’t move...” Hank said after he began to make a light plate for Boris, “I know, not too much,” And then quickly made a hearty plate for himself.

Anthony and Stuart prepared their plates and started to feel a little less nervous; and they were charmed as they watched Hank place three small pastries (“Ja, Hank, the ones with the chicken and the spinach in them, please...”), one rolled up slice of prosciutto, one small pickle and two strawberries on Boris’ plate; Hank cut everything into small bites and set the plate near Boris, along with a napkin and a fork.

“Please, gentlemen, enjoy. Do you see how Hank spoils me?” Boris said proudly.

They all began to eat and were very pleased. Udo returned to the Terrace after a short while to check on them and just as Boris had shifted his seated position somewhat (with Hank’s help) to try and pour coffee for them. Hank (as Udo hovered) started to say that they could take care of this and Boris replied in a kind voice and with a small smile, “No, please allow me; I must try and care for you Hank, and our guests; you and Udo cannot have all of the fun this afternoon.” (Boris barely made it through this pleasantry without grimacing.)

Udo and Hank exchanged glances as Udo set out glasses of water (three with ice for them and one without for Boris) with wedges of lemon in them. 

Anthony said that if they did get an emergency call, they may or may not have to leave abruptly because that always depended on whether another unit was able to pick up the call. 

Boris and Hank could tell that the paramedics continued to feel a little nervous, and seemed curious, and both of them tried to make Anthony and Stuart feel more at ease.

Stuart asked if they enjoyed living in Manhattan and in a rare display of openness, as Boris felt grateful to the men who had cared for him, Boris said, “We are only here at random times throughout the year; we actually live in the Hamptons and keep this Penthouse as a vacation home, as it were. We also have business here. New York City is a nice change of pace from our 443 acre Shadow Pond estate, but I do not think that we would live here full time, ja, Hank?”

“Yeah, we enjoy the grounds outside too much. I like to run and I think now after I’ve lived there, I still have only covered maybe a quarter of the acreage,” Hank replied.

Both Stuart and Anthony shared that they also enjoyed running and felt an immediate connection to Hank. Anthony asked Boris, “Do you run also?”

Boris surprised everyone, including himself, and laughed out loud, which hurt somewhat and he cringed, “Oh, good lord! No, Anthony, I enjoy swimming and we have a splendid indoor pool at Shadow Pond which I use regularly. Now, I must say that it is quite unfair that it pains me to laugh.”

Hank chuckled as well, and said, “That’s too funny,” Hank looked at his wrist watch and said, “Speaking of which, hang on Boris, it’s time for your pain medication; I’ll go get it. Excuse me a minute, guys, I’ll be right back...” Hank got up and left the Terrace.

“I hope you don’t find this too personal of a question, Sir; but you have an interesting accent. I noticed it when we were in the park. Where in Europe are you from?” Anthony asked.

“Ja, it is a reasonable question, Anthony, I certainly do not sound like someone from New York. I am German and Russian...” Boris said with pride.

Hank had returned to the Terrace and said, “Yeah, and he knows about twelve different languages, too,” He sat down next to Boris and held out the quarter of the pill in his hand and handed Boris his glass of water. 

Boris took the pill with a few sips of water; Hank placed his hand on Boris’ knee and looked at Boris with the ‘How are you feeling?’ expression; Boris nodded his head and smiled at Hank.

Anthony and Stuart watched this connection.

“Oh, that would explain why your assistant said that you had started talking in Russian when you went into shock,” Stuart said, “We took care of a man from Iceland once and he started to speak his native language, too. That was interesting to hear, but it was sad that there was no one around who could translate for him.”

Hank cheerfully said, “I’m really grateful to have Udo translate for me; although you know, Boris, it’s almost been a year now and I’m starting to think that you need to teach me German and Russian, just in case Udo is busy somewhere else.”

“Well, it is highly unlikely that Udo would be busy somewhere else as we are both quite the handful for him, but I would be more than happy to teach you, Hank; ja, we should have started this when we got married, huh?” Boris said with an amused tone.

“You’ve been together, married a year?” Anthony asked and the moment he said it, he felt that he probably shouldn’t have because it was too personal of a question.

Boris saw the young man’s distress and since he felt comfortable and proud; he spoke immediately to calm him, “Ja, Anthony, do not be alarmed at your question, we take no offense, surely, it is very kind that you ask and we certainly will not suffer because of it. You are correct; Hank and I will be celebrating our one year wedding anniversary near the end of July, but, we have known each other for a good deal longer than that.”

Stuart said, “Only a year, gees, I would have thought that you two have been together for many years, I mean, you seem like you’ve always been together. My sister and her husband are like you two...they finish each other’s sentences, too. It’s really cool.”

Boris and Hank looked at each other fondly; but Hank felt the familiar twang of regret when he thought about that he and Boris had known each other for so many years and that he didn’t pick up on Boris’ attention; Boris felt the familiar twang of regret when he thought of all of the things he should have done for and about them during the years prior to he and Hank becoming companions. Both men thought about the term: making up for lost time.

Hank chuckled, “You should see how my brother gets when Boris and I do that, it’s hilarious. My brother also doesn’t think that Boris and I can function as individuals.”

Hank then asked about their station, where it was, what is was like to live there, and where it was located in the city. Boris asked what types of challenges they experience aside from the medical emergencies that they needed to handle and they said that everyone pitches in for all of the chores, but that probably grocery shopping was the most difficult to arrange because inevitably, the station would get an alert which would have to be taken care of first and it seemed to always interrupt grocery shopping. That would mean that they’d have to leave the groceries at the store and retrieve them later, which also meant that their meals might be late or not at all and then they’d have to order in, which would get expensive and was not as healthy.

Conversation turned to Boris’ injuries and Boris sat calmly as he listened to the three medical professionals talk about his injuries. It was a little over two days since the accident and Boris had not yet shown signs of any infection, it was unlikely now that that would an issue and everyone was relieved. The arm was set in the cast and that was not a worry any longer. Hank’s main concern was the bruising that Boris had now, especially the area at his lower back. Boris learned more about his kidneys and how they had most likely been bruised in the accident; which was what Hank was most concerned about now. Boris thought to himself that he really needed to tell Hank what he experienced since the day of the accident – he knew that Hank would be upset with him for waiting.

“Well, we should be getting back to the station now, this has been terrific, thank you so much for your time,” Anthony said and stood up.

“Yes, thank you, we’re really glad to know that you are going to be okay,” Stuart said as he rose from his chair.

“Hank, would you please help me to stand, I should like for us to walk our new friends out, ja?” Boris asked.

Hank did so and Boris tried to keep a grimace from his face, but the three men saw that even through his reserved expression. Anthony reached, as he was closest, and grabbed Boris’ cane and handed it to him to which Boris nodded his head in thanks.

“I find that when I am either sitting or standing, I am fine, it is just when I move between the two that I am challenged,” Boris admitted.

Boris and Hank slowly walked Anthony and Stuart to the Foyer and they talked a little more; Yussef and Richard were waiting for to escort them downstairs.

They all shook hands and said sincere farewells; Hank offered to call them later in the week to let them know how Boris was.

Boris nodded and Hank waved to Anthony and Stuart, and they waved back, as the elevator doors closed in front of them.

“Those are great guys,” Hank said cheerfully.

“I agree, and...” Boris trailed off.

“Are you okay?” Hank said as he looked up at Boris and held his upper arms.

“Ja, just a bit weary, but Hank, I have an idea,” Boris said as they turned and walked back into the Penthouse.

“Let’s get you comfortable for a nap, but tell me your idea,” Hank said as he matched Boris’ gait.

“Do you think that our new friends, Anthony and Stuart, and everyone at their station would appreciate a gift of weekly grocery deliveries? We could hire one of those services, ja?” Boris said thoughtfully.

“Wow! That’s a great idea, let’s set up something tomorrow,” Hank said as he guided Boris to the Living Room to lie down on the couch; Hank was somewhat surprised that Boris did not hesitate at his suggestion for a nap.

Boris sat down slowly and grimaced, then said, “Help me to lie on my other side, please, my love; my back is quite in pain at the moment.”

They got Boris situated on his right side and that position also helped to lay his casted arm flat on the couch without the sling and there seemed to be less pressure for his back; this felt better to him and he said quietly, “Ah, very good, thank you.”

Hank knelt on the floor next to Boris and looked down at him with a smile, “What do you have in your head? I can tell you’ve got something else on your mind.”

“Well, I was thinking that Dr. Simons and Nurse Jackie were also instrumental in my care; so, as a doctor, what do you think would be an appropriate gift for them?” Boris asked.

“They would probably appreciate the gift of time, but I’m not certain how we can swing that,” Hank said as he stroked Boris’ hair at his left temple. Hank thought about how they had helped the doctors and nurses at Hamptons Heritage by paying for a much better staff cafeteria service shortly after the attack on Hank as a gift of thanks.

Boris thought for a moment and then said, “What if we were to present them each with the gift an all-expense paid, long weekend trip for two to a location of their choosing to be used at their leisure?”

“You are the most generous and thoughtful person I have ever met, Tree,” Hank said as he continued to stroke his husband’s hair lovingly.

Boris closed his eyes for a moment in shyness, opened them and looked up at Hank, “We simply must be kind to those who were kind to us.”

They smiled at each other and looked into each other’s eyes. Hank leaned in slightly and kissed Boris tenderly, and then said, “I love you, Boris.”

“I love you back, Hank,” Boris said softly.

After a moment, Boris said quietly, “Hank, I did not tell you something, er, yesterday or whenever, the days have gone away from me.”

Hank looked concerned but gently asked, “Okay, what do you need to tell me?”

“I saw blood, you know, when I was...” Boris admitted shyly.

“I thought you might have; it’s all right. Is it less now than before?” Hank asked with compassion.

Boris nodded and looked worried, “I apologize.”

“Rest now, it’s okay. I’ll wake you up when its dinner time,” Hank said as he stood up, then added, “I’ll go find a blanket for you.”


	28. Reconnect, Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wise words: never be afraid to ask for help or to re-establish a bond

Two days later...

“No, there is nothing to worry about, ma’am, he’s fine, really. Yes, Udo and I are taking very good care of him and he is following my directions,” Hank said, ‘It was such a strange accident.”

“Truly! You said he saved a young boy and an infant? Would you be so kind as to put Boris on the phone, dear Hank, I should like to speak with him, yes?” Aunt Marta asked politely.

“Yes, he did. It was amazing. Of course, let me go and check if he is sleeping or not,” Hank replied as he walked from the Terrace to the Office, where he knew Boris was. Hank smiled because he couldn’t wait to see Boris’ expression when he found out who was on the phone.

“Does he have the proper medicine, Hank?” Marta asked.

Boris sat at his desk reading emails and looked up as Hank entered the Office.

“Yes, he is on antibiotics, and he only takes a small dosage of the pain medicine and mostly only when he needs it; he’s very strong,” Hank stated. Hank liked the way that Aunt Marta has started to call him either just Hank or Nephew Hank.

Boris tilted his head as he was very curious as to whom Hank was talking to and doing so in a very different tone of voice.

“Do you have to get state permission to be his doctor in America?” Marta asked with curiosity.

“No, I don’t, anyone can be my patient here,” Hank said with a smile.

“That is good to know, I would imagine that my nephew would still be quite particular about whom his doctor would be; he was that way as a child, you know,” Marta offered.

“Oh, yes...Aunt Marta...Boris is very fussy about his doctors,” Hank said with a big grin on his face as he saw the realization dawn on Boris’ face. Hank almost wanted to laugh out loud, but he didn’t as that would have been very rude of him to laugh on the phone while Aunt Marta was still listening.

“I do not wish to disturb him if he is sleeping,” Marta said politely.

“No, it’s okay, he’s right here, hold on one moment,” Hank said, touched the mute button and said, “Guess who’s on the phone for you?” Hank handed Boris his phone and sat down in a nearby chair; he wasn’t going to miss this interaction.

Boris looked at Hank with the oddest expression, it was part amusement, part ‘you are so in trouble’, and part ‘oh good lord’. He touched the mute button on the phone and said, as he knew it was nighttime in St. Petersburg, Russia, “Good evening, Lady Aunt Marta, I trust you are well?”

“Yes, I am fine, my Nephew, but Hank tells me that you were injured and are recovering now,” Aunt Marta said with a tone that he knew she expected to hear details from him.

“Yes, Lady Aunt, it was an accident in the Central Park, in New York, whilst Hank and I were taking a walk a few days ago,” Boris said politely. He looked at Hank and smiled. It was actually a comfort for Boris to hear his Aunt Marta’s voice.

Boris went on to describe what happened, and Marta listened to her nephew even though she had heard the entire (and a more) detailed story from Hank. Marta was happy to hear Boris’ voice and she really enjoyed hearing the story from two different points of view.

“Well, I am certainly glad to hear that the boy and the infant were unharmed and, Nephew, I am very proud of you for risking yourself to protect them; you have always been so honorable,” Marta said and he could hear the pride in her voice.

“I merely did what was necessary to prevent harm,” Boris said formally.

“Oh, that is so like you to play down your heroics; Boris; goodness now, and Hank assured me that you are receiving the best of care, yes?” Marta asked.

“Yes, Aunt Marta, I am currently receiving excellent care, that is why I feel a bit better every day; Hank is quite my protector,” Boris said simply, but proudly.

“Now, I am not going to ask you if you were going to call me to tell me about this remarkable situation, because you were probably going to call me, but, you were probably not going to tell me that your arm was broken whilst you saved two children, tsk, tsk, Boris,” Marta said with a mock scolding tone, “Just wait until I tell your Uncles about this, oh my!”

“It seems that you know me as well as Hank does, my Lady,” Boris said almost cheerfully; he grinned slightly as he looked at Hank.

“And this is why I enjoy talking with your husband on a regular basis; perhaps more regularly even than I talk with you,” Marta teased.

“I understand, Aunt Marta,” Boris said sincerely; he was amused and slightly embarrassed at the same time, but he enjoyed Hank’s ever changing expressions.

“So, how long must you keep the cast on your arm?” Marta asked.

“Hank tells me that it could be up to six weeks; it depends on how quickly the bone mends itself; I, er, must be cautious with my use of that arm and hand, and sometimes...” Boris thought for a moment that he should just admit it to his Aunt because Hank would most likely now tell her (or had told her) anyway, “Er, sometimes, I overtax myself.”

Hank smiled at Boris as he was proud of Boris to admit that to her.

“Yes, that is so like you to always push yourself to the brink. Is there anything that you need, Nephew?” Aunt Marta asked.

“No, Lady Aunt, thank you for your concern,” Boris said with sincerity, “I...am grateful to...have you in my life again,” Boris said simply and he looked down at the corner of his desk for a moment.

“I, as well, dear Nephew Boris, please take care of yourself; may I speak to Hank again?” Marta asked.

“Thank you, Aunt Marta, I shall; please...take care as well...” Boris almost said something else but stopped. He wasn’t quite ready yet, but then...

Marta said, “I love you, Nephew Boris, I always have and always will.”

Boris took a sharp intake of breath and thrust his chin upward; after a brief moment, he exhaled and said quietly, “I love you, also, Aunt Marta,” There was a long pause and then he said – when he found his voice again, “Here is Hank again.” 

Boris stood up slowly, grabbed his cane, ambled around and leaned on the desk, handed the phone to Hank, nodded to him, and then walked out of the Office.

Hank took the phone as he recovered and said, “Hello, again, Aunt Marta, uh, is there anything I can do for you?”

“No, no, simply only take care of my Boris, will you? Well, of course, you will, what am I saying...thank you, Nephew Hank, for everything, dear,” Marta said seriously and then cheerfully she added, “Until next time, and let me know if you need anything, yes? You are very special to me, Hank, good bye.”

“Thank you, ma’am, Yes, I’ll call you next week, bye now,” Hank said cheerfully and ended the call.

Hank got up from the chair and went to find Boris with the hope that Boris was all right. Hank found Boris out on the Terrace at his favorite spot leaning at the half wall with his good arm, the cane rested against the wall; Hank walked up to Boris cautiously and sensed somewhat that Boris was probably fine, but Hank didn’t want to assume anything.

Boris turned to look at Hank, took his arm out of the sling and reached out to Hank with his good hand/arm to pull him close into an embrace. 

Hank held Boris gently in return and said, “Are you okay, Tree?”

Boris pulled back slightly to look at Hank, “Ja, this was an unexpected turn of events, however, thank you for...starting it.”

Hank smiled widely at Boris, “You’re welcome,” Hank looked quickly towards the interior of the Penthouse and saw no one, then looked back up at Boris, “I so want to kiss you right now.”

Boris smiled and the smile lit up his eyes, “As you wish, my beloved One...”

 

~~~

 

The two men had finished breakfast and Boris had expressed a desire to walk, somewhere, anywhere; Hank said that Boris was having cabin fever and Boris then launched into the difference between a cabin and the Penthouse. Hank was happy to listen to Boris teaching him about something; it showed the Boris was on the mend. 

Boris felt strong that morning, now after a few days, and wanted to move about. Hank agreed but it had to be somewhere that they could take an easy safe stroll and Boris suggested the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Boris reasoned to Hank that there would be no skateboarders there and thought it would fit Hank’s safety requirements for the afternoon. “I am fairly certain that they have seating benches in case I need to sit,” Boris reasoned further.

They began to get ready and Hank wanted to take Boris’ vital signs as well as to check for any numbness in his fingers and to inspect the bruises that had fully blossomed on various parts of Boris’ body.

Dr. Hank said, “You know, Boris, you are really lucky that you didn’t develop an infection from the open wound and the exposed bone.”

“I worried when my temperature went up that second night, but perhaps my karma is sufficient to have kept me safe, ja?” Boris pondered out loud.

“Yeah, I guess so, I think you were lucky. Okay, well, your vitals look good this morning. Can I check the bruises?” Hank asked.

“Of course, what is it that you are looking for now?” Boris asked as he sat still, upright and shirtless with his usual correct posture on the dressing room bench and wore just his trousers and socks.

“I am still mostly looking for additional swelling or if the bruises are not diminishing; I’m concerned most about this large one, and the surrounding tender area on your lower back where you bounced off of the concrete bench, I know that one has been bothering you the most,” Hank said as he used his fingers to lightly touch each bruised area.

“Ja, everything from the belt which holds up my trousers to every chair that I sit upon seems to annoy that area,” Boris flinched when Hank lightly touched his lower back.

“Ooh, I’m sorry; yeah, that’s a real tender spot, but there is no swelling – that’s good. You’re still not having any additional kidney problems, right? Like that blood you saw in your urine or the trouble you had urinating?” Dr. Hank asked.

“No, nothing more since after the first few days,” Patient Boris replied with relief...for several reasons.

“Okay. When we get back this afternoon, let’s do a heat then ice treatment on that portion of your back again, okay?” Hank said, “Other than that, everything else looks normal for this situation; can you believe that it’s been almost a week since the accident?” Hank place his hand on Boris’ shoulder and said enthusiastically, “Let’s get dressed, get to the museum, and get cultured!’

As Boris stood up slowly from the bench, he said, “You make it sound as if we are going to turn into yogurt, Hank.”

“What?” Hank asked as he put on his socks.

“Yogurt cultures, Hank, er, never mind,” Boris said as he carefully pulled the sleeve of his shirt over the cast.

 

Later that night, the two men were tucked into their bed and talked for a while. Boris’ head was on Hank’s shoulder, but they had switched sides on the bed because Boris was more comfortable as he laid on his right side with his casted left arm across Hank and the cast was propped on pillows on Hank’s right side. 

“I truly enjoyed the art museum today, Hank, thank you,” Boris said sincerely, “It was quite nice to walk about and it was an easy walk, however, I must admit it was somewhat taxing,” He paused a moment and then continued, “I do wonder though how little Tom-mee is doing,” Boris didn’t want to admit to Hank that he actually felt fearful as they exited the Bentley and were out in the open; Boris didn’t feel safe until they entered the museum building. 

“Don’t worry, that was the most effort you’ve done since the accident, and you only had to sit down three times. You know, I’m sure he’s okay, you know how young boys can bounce back,” Hank said lightly. Hank didn’t tell Boris yet that he and Udo were working on locating Tommy, the Skateboarder. Anton had said that he thought he saw a boy who looked like Tommy back at the park that very afternoon, but he wasn’t sure, and he would watch again tomorrow. Hank had a feeling that Boris would want some type of closure to that situation. He knew that Boris had a big heart and would want to know that the boy was all right.

“I think that I should like for us to stay here for yet another week, if that is agreeable to you, Hank,” Boris suggested.

“Sure, that sounds great. Since Udo had some of our stuff and clothes brought over from Shadow Pond, it really feels now like a second home,” Hank agreed as that would also give them more time to locate Tommy and Hank thought that Boris was doing a wonderful job of resting – something he probably wouldn’t be doing as much if they were home at Shadow Pond.

“Perhaps next week, we should try to schedule our date night again?” Boris asked as he thought out loud.

“Yes! I finally get to see you in that black shawl collar tuxedo,” Hank said cheerfully and hugged Boris.

“Should we talk about our next set of travel plans?” Boris asked innocently.

“Uh, sure, but you know that I’m not allowing any travel until you are completely healed, out of that cast and finished with physical therapy, right?” Dr. Hank stated.

“Da, moy vrach Hank,” Boris said playfully (‘Yes, my doctor Hank’) in Russian.

Hank hugged Boris and kissed his hair, “I know what you just said, and I’m starting to remember Russian. Okay, talk to me, what are your thoughts.”

“First, I have plans for your birthday, but I have thought that perhaps I should provide you with a choice of locations so that you can be most pleased with the outcome, ja?” Boris said.

“This sounds interesting,” Hank said with curiosity.

“And since I was vague the last time we spoke about this and you were frustrated about that, I shall come straight to the point,” Boris teased.

“Still sounds interesting and I’m waiting,” Hank teased back.

“One choice would take us a day to get there, the other would reasonably take almost two,” Boris offered, “However, they are both quite far apart and I am certain that you will not allow us to visit both on the same trip...”

“Still...waiting,” Hank said.

“...and so, you must choose one because we may go to the other location later in the year anyway,” Boris grinned and lifted his head to look at Hank; he studied his eyes for a moment.

Hank whispered, “I’m still...WAITING!” (The last word was not whispered.)

Boris laughed and was glad he had taken a pain pill before he got into bed so that he could laugh without pain, stretched his neck a bit and he kissed Hank on the cheek, “You are such a delight to play with, my beloved One.”

Hank said flatly, “Still waiting,” He paused and said, “You must be feeling better, you wickedness is showing.”

“Quite,” Boris replied.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, although both of them were smiling because they really enjoyed the banter.

Boris spoke first, “Would you prefer to go to Casablanca and then visit our shipyard in Gibraltar...or...visit our women’s college in Thailand and then spend some time in Bali?”

“Oh!” Was all that Hank could say at the moment because he was very surprised; he did manage to kiss Boris’ hair again.

Boris said, “You do not need to choose now; take some time to decide and then we will plan the trip together, ja?”

“Um, okay, yeah, I really need to think about that...wow. And what were you planning about for your birthday and our anniversary?” Hank asked, because he wasn’t sure what he should expect but thought he would throw that question out there and just have Boris pile on another surprise. 

“Ah, something simple like combining the two celebrations and taking the Lady Irina ocean boat out to sail around the Caribbean for a week or so; there are delightful places that I would like to share with you; that is all, but I believe it would be a good deal of fun for us,” Boris said simply.

Hank took his right hand and placed it on Boris’ left cheek to guide his head around to look at him, “You are so amazing, Boris. What did I ever do to deserve you? Yeah, I’d like to think about this. Wow. But, I’m tired now and can’t think any more, and I know that you’re tired, too, so let’s get some sleep, okay?”

“Good night, my beloved One,” Boris said with his slight smile.

“Good night, Tree,” Hank said with a grin.

 

~~~

 

Two days passed and Hank told Boris over breakfast that something nice was going to happen that day. Udo stood by Hank and refilled their coffees, as was planned, because Hank wanted Udo there with him when he made the announcement to Boris.

“Something nice, Hank? Whatever are you talking about?” Boris asked with curiosity and a tilt of his head as he looked from Hank to Udo and back to Hank. 

“We have to be somewhere at two o’clock this afternoon,” Hank said.

Udo nodded and Boris looked from Hank to Udo and back to Hank again. Boris saw their happy and eager expressions and wondered what they had planned.

“We, and by that I mean, Udo, myself, and Anton, have found Tommy,” Hank said.

“Truly, Hank? Is he well? The poor boy suffered such an embarrassment...” Boris felt excited and it showed on his face as he looked at both men who stood in front of him.

Udo said, “Yes, Sir, he is well and we have arranged to meet him, and his parents, in the park at two o’clock this afternoon. He promised that he would not be upon his skateboard.”

“This is splendid...where is my stationery, Udo; I need to write a letter to give to Tom-mee’s parents, and bring it with us,” Boris said with enthusiasm.

 

They were able to park the cars closer to where the bridge was where Tommy had crashed, and so the walk across the park was not long and you could see the cars from the bench; this made Hank very happy. Boris was on the mend but he still tired quickly and Hank was worried that Boris might not even make it to the bench that afternoon. Hank mentioned this to Boris and he assured Hank that he wouldn’t miss this meeting for the world.

 

Boris and Hank sat together on the same bench that Boris had been injured on, with Udo behind them and the whole team at a short distance surrounding them. Hank could tell that Boris was a little nervous because he kept fidgeting with his cane and Boris never fidgeted with anything.

At a little after two, Tommy and his mother and father walked over and down the bridge to meet them. Boris stood up and used his cane to help him rise and balance himself; Hank helped him and stood up as well.

Tommy, and his parents, stopped in front of Boris and Hank, and Tommy said shyly, “Hi, Mister,” and he reached out his hand to shake Boris’ hand.

Boris tilted his head slightly in amusement, and with a small smile, (he hooked his cane on his left elbow and used the bench at the back of his legs for balance) and said in his deep voice as he reached out and downward to shake Tommy’s hand, “Hello Tom-mee, it is good to see you again,” Tommy’s hand felt, and was, so very small in Boris’ hand.

“Yeah, are you really okay, Mister? I mean, Mr. Anton and Mr. Udo said you were, but I almost didn’t believe them, you know, ‘cause, I mean we crashed really hard, right?” Tommy said as he started to quickly warm up to Boris; Tommy looked way up at Boris and smiled.

“Yes, Tom-mee, we did, er, crash hard. You can call me Boris and I am certain that you remember Dr. Hank, ja?” Boris said gently.

“Yeah, hi, I remember you, Dr. Hank, um, did it take long to get the blood off of your hands?” Tommy asked with boyhood curiosity as they shook hands and Tommy looked closely at Hank’s hands to see if there was any blood on them.

Everyone chuckled nervously and Hank replied, “No, Tommy, the blood came off just fine that afternoon.”

Boris took his cane and leaned on it, and then looked up at Tommy’s parents and gently asked, “Would you please introduce me to your parents, Tom-mee?”

“Oh, yeah, sure, uh, but I have to call you Mister Boris cause my Dad says that’s a polite thing to do when I meet grown-ups, ok? So, like, this is my Mom, her name is Beth, and this is my Dad, his name is John,” Tommy said in his big-boy voice.

“Good afternoon, Beth and John, I am so very pleased to meet you both. Your son took quite tumble and I worried that he was injured. I greatly appreciate your time in bringing him here to meet with me,” Boris said graciously, “This is my husband, Hank, and our assistant, Udo, and there is Anton over there, and the rest of our security team,” Boris nodded to each one of them. 

Hank shook Beth’s and John’s hands; Udo and Anton bowed to them. Everyone smiled more as the nervousness wore off.

Hank smiled the widest and nodded, he looked back after a moment at Udo and at Anton and they smiled back at him.

John said, “We’re very glad to meet you, too, Sir. We feel very bad about the accident.”

Beth and John couldn’t believe what was happening at the moment, but they were relieved. Tommy had come home a complete mess that day (of the crash), both physically and emotionally, and explained everything to them; Tommy cried again when he retold the story and throughout the week he kept talking about the “...tall man with the silver hair in the suit with the funny accent that he crashed into and broke his arm and stuff...” Now they were standing in front of and speaking with the “...tall man with the silver hair in the suit...” and heard his very non-New York-like accent, and were amazed. 

 

The day before, Tommy had come home and said with excitement, “...the tall man has a special police man I remember from the day of the crash and the special police man said that the tall man wants to talk to me about the crash!” 

Beth and John almost didn’t believe this, but Tommy was so earnest about it and when Tommy had pulled out of his backpack an envelope with a letter in it, and showed it to them (which Udo had handwritten) that explained the request for a meeting, they had to believe their son in some way. (Udo had given the letter to Anton to give to Tommy to give to his parents.)

Since the incident, Tommy’s parents had begun to worry that the “tall man” would be angry with them for what their son had done to him – even if it was a true accident – and wondered what they would do if they all ever met. But the letter indicated no such trouble – the letter was even friendly, and instead, the “tall man with the silver hair in the suit” was now standing before them and he was gracious, gentle, and calm.

 

Tommy asked, “Mister Boris, can I see your cast? This musta hurt really bad, right? Can I touch the cast? This is really cool. Did you get anyone to sign your cast, Mister Boris?”

Boris smiled as he was amused at all of Tommy’s enthusiastic questions as he moved his arm outward (his jacket only hung from his shoulder on that side) and then moved his arm out of the sling and his shirt sleeve upward a little bit, (Boris had to leave his shirt sleeve unbuttoned at the cuff) and bent over to show Tommy the cast, “Yes, Tom-mee, go ahead and touch the cast if you wish to do so; they told me at Hospital that it is a new kind of cast. I must admit to you that it did hurt at first, but Dr. Hank tells me now that it is healing and the cast may be taken off in several weeks.”

Hank looked at Tommy, who looked up at him with wide eyes, and said, “Boris’ arm is healing very well, Tommy,” Hank looked over at Beth and John and nodded his head and smiled; they smiled in return. 

Tommy ran his small fingers along the cast and looked up at Boris and said, “This is so cool; I broke my leg once, but your cast is way cooler than mine was. How come nobody signed your cast, Mister Boris? Don’t you have any friends?”

Everyone smiled at that innocent comment, and Boris replied, “I did not know that I was supposed to have my cast signed Tom-mee; is that what they do here in America?”

“Oh yeah, everybody has their casts signed here, hey, where are you from anyway, Mister Boris? You don’t sound like anybody that I’ve ever talked to and I’ve talked to a LOT of people,” Tommy said with a nod and a great deal of confidence.

“I see Tom-mee, well, first, may we sit down for a moment?” Boris asked and moved to seat himself on the bench; Hank grabbed Boris’ upper right arm and helped him to sit. Their eyes met and they nodded at each other. Hank resettled Boris’ jacket on his left shoulder to keep him from feeling chilled.

Boris and Hank looked up at Beth and John and they all nodded.

Tommy then sat down right next to Boris on the bench, like it had been his spot all along and kept looking at Boris’ cast. 

Hank looked at Beth and John, Boris looked at Beth and John, Hank looked at Boris and Boris looked back at Tommy.

“Thank you, Tom-mee; well, I am from Germany and some of my family lives in Russia,” Boris said.

Tommy looked up at Boris and said plainly, “Whoa, that’s a long way away from New York. You’re far from home, huh? I just live over there and down that left street and over four blocks. (Tommy pointed across the park.) I know where those places are that you’re talking about ‘cause I learned about that in school. Hey, Mister Boris, if you don’t have any friends, like, I can be your friend, if you want me to be to your friend, even though I crashed into you. And I can sign your cast; I can be the first person!”

“Do not worry, Tom-mee, I have many friends, however, you can certainly be my friend, if you wish. I do not think that the pen I have will write very well upon this cast,” Boris said gently as he was charmed by this little boy’s honest and open offer of friendship.

“Well, Mister Boris, don’t worry about anything; I can fix this, ‘cause I have a marker in my back pack!” Tommy said with excitement and he jumped up from the bench, went quickly to his backpack (which was at Beth’s feet), rummaged through it fiercely and shouted “Gotcha!” Then Tommy went back, the marker held tightly in his small fist, and sat on the bench with lots of movement and scooted over next to and so close to Boris that he pushed up against Boris and they touched arms and legs. Tommy clutched a black marker, pulled off the cap and asked, “Are you ready, Mister Boris?”

Boris smiled and said, “Ja, Tom-mee, I am ready.”

“Okay, Mister Boris, here’s the deal, I take this marker and I write on your cast something nice and then I sign my name, that’s how this works in America!” Tommy said happily.

Boris pulled up his sleeve a little more and angled his arm further to give Tommy more room to write on the cast and Tommy’s face became serious as he concentrated. He wrote on Boris’ cast:

Mister Boris, Please get well soon. Your friend, Tommy O’Brien

Tommy capped the marker, looked very proud of himself, and said, “You have to recap the marker or they dry out you know.”

Boris looked at the words on his cast, smiled slightly, then looked at Tommy and said, “I know about that, too. Thank you, Tom-mee that was a very nice thing for you to do for me. Is there anything nice which I may do for you? We are friends now, ja?”

“Yeah, we’re friends now, totally. You know, I only want you to get better Mister Boris. My mom says that if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. Since you’re older than me, you probably need more health than me; if I could give you some of my health I would, but I don’t know how to do that. Maybe, oh, yes, just maybe, ‘cause I wrote the get well soon words on your cast, that’s like giving you health, right? That would be so cool!” Tommy said with sincerity, smiled widely and nodded with lots of energy as he wiggled on the bench.

“That is a splendid idea, Tom-mee,” Boris said kindly and with a chuckle. He felt so comforted inside and the combination of the walk from the car, his nervousness over meeting Tommy and the relief of knowing that Tommy was well and happy, was slightly overwhelming to him. He smiled at Tommy and Hank saw that Boris had become very tired.

Hank said, “Well, I think that Boris needs to rest a little bit now, it’s been a big day.”

“Ja, see Dr. Hank takes good care of me. Tom-mee, do you remember when I told you to not be afraid to ask for help?” Boris looked at Beth and John and then at Tommy.

“Yeah, Mister Boris, you said a funny word, too, was that something in your language?” Tommy asked.

“That word was ‘boyus’’, it means ‘afraid’ in Russian, eh, you see, Tom-mee, I said that to you because I was afraid once to ask for help and I have learned that it is better to not be afraid and ask for help. We are surrounded by good people, Tom-mee, we should all help each other, ja?” Boris said simply.

“Of course, Mister Boris, everybody knows that. Hey! Maybe we’ll see each other again soon, okay? We could even be pen pals when you go back home, I can write really good,” Tommy said with a wave of his hand and a smile as he looked up at Boris.

Boris smiled at Tommy and said, “Oh-kay, Tom-mee.”

Hank helped Boris to stand and resettled his sleeves and the sling, Boris took up his cane and held it with his left fingers; Tommy stood up and they looked at each other. Tommy reached out to shake Boris’ hand and then Hank’s hand again. Boris and Hank looked at Beth and John and they nodded to one another and smiled. Boris transferred his cane to his right hand and leaned on it heavily.

Tommy walked back over to his parents, dropped his marker into his backpack and waved as Boris and Hank began to walk away. Suddenly, Tommy cried out, “Wait, Mister Boris!” And Tommy walked quickly to Boris, looked up at him and asked, “Can I give you a hug? That’s part of the health thing, too, I think.”

Boris crouched down slowly, with Hank’s help, and Tommy wrapped his arms around Boris’ neck in a fierce hug. Boris hugged Tommy gently and was moved deeply by Tommy’s honest affection.

Tommy stepped back and said with seriousness, “My friend Bobby, who broke his arm one time, said that you can hide some really cool stuff in your sling, but don’t stick stuff inside your cast.”

Boris chuckled and replied, “I shall remember that, Tom-mee, thank you.”

Tommy walked back to his parents; Boris slowly stood up, and they all waved to Boris and Hank who waved back. 

As Boris and Hank walked away towards the car, Boris continued to lean on his cane heavily but asked with a slight smile, “Please hold my arm, Hank, will you?”

Udo came up to Beth and John, bowed formally to them and smiled as Tommy stepped away to look at the pond, and said to them, “Thank you for meeting with my Master; He was so worried about Tommy; such a fine boy you have there. I must go and care for both of my Masters now, but they wanted to provide something for Tommy,” Udo pulled out an ivory envelope from his jacket breast pocket and handed it to Beth, who took it with some hesitation.

They said together, “But...”

Udo just smiled, bowed again, and then walked towards Boris and Hank. The rest of the team began to follow Udo and surround Boris and Hank in a wide circle. Beth and John watched as they all began to get into the three black cars, helped Boris into the center car and then drove away.

Beth opened up the envelope and drew out the ivory toned papers; she unfolded them and saw the rearing stag family crest embossed in black ink at the center top of the paper; she and John read the elegant, handwritten script silently and looked at each other in amazement. Beth’s eyes filled with tears as she and John looked at each other.

The letter in the envelope presented them with specific instructions and contact information for a trust to be arranged through Festung Bank which would essentially provide a complete, paid-in-full, college education for Tommy O’Brien. The letter was signed by both Boris and Hank.

 

Back now at the Penthouse, Boris wanted to sit out on the Terrace and expressed a need for coffee. 

“Where is Anton?” Boris asked.

“I shall locate him, Sir,” Udo said as he poured their coffee and then stepped away.

“What a great little kid,” Hank said happily.

“Ja, so sweet-natured, I do hope that he never loses that quality completely as he matures,” Boris said as he took a sip of coffee.

Udo and Anton then entered the Terrace and stood together near Boris and Hank. Boris moved to stand up with Hank’s help and it took him a moment to balance himself with his cane...the afternoon’s event had taken a lot out of Boris, but he was so very happy. He stepped near the three men and looked at each one of them with sincerity and a slight smile. After a moment more, Boris said, “I should like to thank the three of you for finding Tom-mee and arranging this meeting. It has made my heart feel more at ease to know that the little boy is well.”

Udo spoke for them, “It was our pleasure, Sir, to help Dr. Hank and of course, assist you.”

Anton nodded and smiled.

“Ah, so this was your idea, to try and find Tom-mee for me, eh?” Boris asked as he looked at Hank.

“Yes, I knew you were worried about the little guy, and, I just didn’t want you to worry any more. Anton was the one who sat in the park for three afternoons and waited for Tommy. We thought that he’d probably come back along his same skateboard route, and he did and saw Anton sitting there and recognized him,” Hank said.

Anton spoke quietly, “I wore the black that we always wear with the hope Tommy would further recognize me. It was cute, I mean, Tommy saw me and came over and asked me point blank if I was one of the, and I quote: “...secret police men of the tall man with the silver hair in the suit with funny accent that I crashed into”.” 

They all smiled and chuckled.

Hank said, “Udo wrote the letter that Anton gave to Tommy to give to his parents inviting them to the meeting. They called Udo and arranged the time. We thought that would be the right thing to do.”

Boris nodded and then asked, “Udo, thank you for giving Tom-mee’s parents the instructions.”

Udo replied, “Yes, Sir, you are most welcome.”

Hank said, “That was really generous of you, Boris.”

Boris waved the fingers on his left hand slightly as the cast prevented them from moving more, and he said haltingly, “I...just wanted to give the young man something...nice. Thank you again, gentlemen, this was an extraordinary experience for me. Eh, excuse me; I should need to sit down again.”

Hank helped Boris to sit down (he sat down hard) and Udo and Anton left the Terrace.

“You’re beat, aren’t you?” Hank asked.

“Er, ja, somewhat,” Boris replied as he stared out across the Terrace, “But, in the best way.”

 

Later that night, Boris said to Hank, “This is one of those magnificent times that one always remembers. Thank you, my beloved One, for making this event happen for me.”

They embraced and Hank replied, “The next magnificent time will not involve broken bones or bruised organs.”

Boris said quietly, “At least not as far as we know...”

 

~~~

 

“Evan! If you would stop shouting at us, we could probably understand what you’re trying to say!” Hank said loudly into the speaker of his phone as it sat on the outdoor dining table between he and Boris; he looked at Boris with wide eyes and a shake of his head.

Boris put his fork, tines down, on the edge of his plate and looked back at Hank with equally wide eyes and his right hand and shoulder went upward slightly in a half-shrug. Boris didn’t move the left side of his body because the cast felt terribly heavy that morning. Boris couldn’t understand a word that Evan was babbling about and he wasn’t about to try and continue to have a peaceful meal (a specific requirement of Boris’) with Evan’s mechanically enhanced raving filling the Terrace space. Boris’ mood also wasn’t receptive to Evan’s noise and he felt anxious for it to stop.

Evan continued to shout and Hank pushed the mute button; he said, “We’ll let him get whatever this is out of his system first.”

“Could you please turn the volume down on your phone?” Boris asked as his eyebrows knitted together as the sound continued to assault him.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Hank replied and he fumbled with the volume control.

Udo walked quickly out onto the Terrace as he had heard the noise and wanted to see if his Masters were all right. Boris held up his right hand and looked at Udo with somewhat of a calm expression to assure him that they were both fine. 

“Is he happy or in...er...meltdown?” Boris asked plainly.

“I think he’s happy,” Hank said.

Udo stood there for a moment as he was not certain if he should leave them alone with the shrieking phone, but Hank smiled at him and said, “Oh, it’s only Evan and he’s excited about something.”

Udo looked relieved, nodded, tugged on his perfectly straightened jacket to straighten it more, turned and left the Terrace.

Evan’s voice suddenly became much quieter and then he said, “Woo hoo! Uh...is anybody there?”

Hank was in the middle of eating a forkful of eggs, quickly placed his fork on the plate, chewed fast and swallowed, and pushed the mute button to un-mute it, “Yeah, Evan, we’re both here.”

“Isn’t that great news!?” Evan asked enthusiastically.

“Are you going to start yelling again?” Hank asked.

“No, uh, was I yelling? Oh yeah, I guess I was...oops...sorry about that,” Evan said.

“Evan, considering that you nearly shattered the speaker on Hank’s phone, we are not certain what you are excited or upset about. Would you care to repeat the news in a more calm of a manner for us?” Boris instructed in a very stern voice.

Hank said to Boris, “I think he’s happy; I can almost imagine him doing the happy dance right now.”

“What did you say, Bro?” Evan asked.

“Nothing, Evan; just tell us what’s going on. Wait, first of all, is this good or bad news?” Hank asked with a grimace not knowing what to expect next.

“Didn’t you guys hear anything that I said?!” Evan said with exasperation.

“No, Evan, and currently our breakfast is getting cold and we wish for you to finish what you need to say or call us back in one hour,” Boris said with a stern business-like voice.

“I’ll call you back, bye!” Evan said quickly and hung up the phone.

Boris and Hank looked at each other and sighed.

“Good, now we can finish our breakfast,” Boris said flatly.

“Aren’t you curious about what he is talking about?” Hank asked as began to eat again.

“Ja, of course, I am, but I am more curious about whether we will be allowed to finish our breakfast in peace; first things first, Hank,” Boris stated.

The continued to eat their breakfast in the returned tranquility of the Terrace and this pleased Boris somewhat. This was a good thing because Boris had not slept well and was somewhat in a sour mood that morning. His broken arm ached and his shoulder that was attached to that arm did as well. Boris was annoyed with the ongoing deep and dull pain in his lower back and listening to Evan’s shouting only made matters worse.

Hank looked over at Boris and saw a serious expression cross Boris’ face and asked, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Truth be told, no,” Boris said flatly.

“What’s wrong?” Hank asked gently and took a sip of orange juice.

Boris had a set in his jaw and his eyes seemed to look a dark shade of grey as he turned his head to look at Hank; he pushed his plate away one half of an inch away from himself, sighed deeply and said with frustration, “I cannot recall if I took a pain pill this morning and I ache a great deal - still; and because you and Nurse Joanne always tell me to not ‘double up’ on any medication, I have not taken another one and yet I still feel poorly and at this moment all I want to do is to consume the entire bottle of pain medicine to make it all go away.”

Hank looked concerned (even though inside his mind, he was thinking about how adorable Boris became when he pouted and was crabby) and asked, “Well, if you did take one, it wasn’t enough because you shouldn’t still feel uncomfortable. They are designed to take the sharp edge of the pain off so you can function. I’ll go get you another quarter pill, it’s okay, Boris, I’ll be right back.”

Hank stood up and as he walked by Boris, Boris grabbed Hank’s arm with his right hand and held onto it which drew Hank next to Boris. Hank looked down at him, turned towards him, and smiled slightly; Boris looked up at Hank with a serious expression and studied his face for a moment. Hank asked gently, “What?”

“Thank you, my beloved One,” Boris said sincerely, “And I apologize for my poor attitude this morning; I...did not sleep well last night.”

“Why didn’t you wake me? Maybe I could have helped you,” Hank said as he held Boris’ face.

“You slept so soundly, I did not want to disturb you; it was just...” Boris trailed off.

Now Hank knelt down next to Boris, held his right hand with both of his hands and searched Boris’ eyes, “Tell me.”

“I had a bad dream,” Boris said.

“Do you remember any of the dream?” Hank asked with concern.

“Ja...I hit the stone bench...again...and broke apart into many pieces and there was no one around to put me back together. I remember seeing parts of myself strewn about on the grass,” Boris said with a sigh, “I awoke and was in pain and for a moment I thought I really was broken apart – I believe that being strewn about like that would hurt a great deal.”

Hank smiled at Boris his most comforting smile and said, “Well, maybe I was on my way to you, I’m good with stitches; I would have sewn you right back together. Next time, you HAVE to wake me up, okay? For you to wake up in pain, and a bad dream... that’s not good at all,” Hank stood up, “I’ll be right back...try to eat some more of your breakfast.”

Hank patted Boris’ hand, stood up, and walked to the bathroom to get the medicine. 

Boris looked at his plate and moved it back towards him and forced himself to eat a few more bites of the Spinach and Mushroom Omelet; he wasn’t very hungry, the aches in his body were distracting.

Hank returned and gave Boris the quarter pill; to which Boris nodded his head in gratitude and took it with some orange juice.

“You should feel better in just a few minutes,” Hank said with a comforting tone to his voice.

Boris nodded, picked at his strawberries and ate a few pieces.

“Can I suggest that after breakfast you might want to go back to bed and try to catch a few more hours of sleep?” Hank offered gently as he sat down, “We don’t have any plans today.”

“Then I shall miss Evan’s delightful call,” Boris quipped.

“Yeah, well, I think we can wait on whatever he’s excited about; your health is more important to me; you’re more important to me and I don’t want you to suffer,” Hank said firmly.

“All right, then ja, I shall lie down for a while,” Boris replied.

 

After Hank got Boris settled back in bed, Hank went back out onto the Terrace and texted Evan.

Hank wrote: Don’t call us just yet.

Evan wrote: Why? I NEED TO TELL YOU GUYS!

Hank wrote: I just put Boris down for a nap.

Evan wrote: Cute, you have a husband and a baby.

Hank wrote: I do not.

Evan wrote: Yes, you do.

Hank wrote: He’s in a lot of pain; he didn’t sleep well last night and needs to rest.

Evan wrote: Can’t I just tell you?

Hank wrote: When did you become this rude? I said...he...is...in...pain! You, or I, DO NOT want Boris to be in pain – you just don’t know how upset he can get. No, you can’t just tell me. If this news is so big, then he and I need to hear about it together.

Evan wrote: I knew it! The two of you CANNOT function independently!

Hank wrote: Goodbye, Evan. We’ll call you later.

Evan wrote: But this is really great news!

Hank wrote: We’ll enjoy it LATER. Goodbye, Evan. 

Evan wrote: But Henry...I really need to tell you!

Hank had actually shut off his phone at that point and went to go find Boris’ phone to do the same thing, just in case Evan couldn’t restrain himself. Hank found it on the desk in the office, turned it off, set it back down on the desk and then thought about Udo. Hank went to the other side of the Penthouse and found Udo.

“Is something wrong, Dr. Hank?” Udo was slightly confused because if either of his Master’s needed anything and he wasn’t near them, they would usually just text Udo with one word: Da (Russian for ‘yes’) and he would be by their side immediately.

“Everything’s okay. Boris didn’t sleep well last night and so he’s sleeping now. Remember Evan calling this morning? He really wants to tell us some great news, but I want Boris to be with me when Evan tells us and I don’t want Evan bothering us right now. Boris needs to sleep. I told Evan that, but I think he’s going to explode; so, I shut off Boris’ phone and my phone, and I wanted to tell you and warn you in case Evan contacts you, too; or if you needed to get a hold of us. You know how goofy my brother can get,” Hank explained.

“I understand, Dr. Hank. Will it disturb the Master if I come and take care of the breakfast dishes now?” Udo asked politely.

“Let’s walk back over together and see if he’s sound asleep yet; if he is, then yes, I really don’t want anything to interrupt him right now,” Hank said with concern.

Hank and Udo walked back over to the master area and looked in on Boris; he was indeed asleep – the pain pill had helped to lessen his discomfort considerably and allowed him to drift off quickly because he was so tired.

Udo began to gather the dishes and clean up and Hank started to help him; Udo politely suggested to Dr. Hank that Udo was fine to do this work on his own, but Hank really wanted to help – Hank even said, “Please, let me help, Udo.” And so they worked together and chatted quietly in the kitchen as they did the dishes.

As he dried one of the dishes that Hank just washed, Udo asked, “Are you all right, Dr. Hank?”

“Uh, yeah, Udo, I’m fine, just worried about Boris. It should be just another day or so when the pain he is experiencing should be much less noticeable to him, he is healing. You know me, I worry, and I just hate to see him in pain...it’s upsetting,” Hank admitted as he washed the cups and saucers.

Udo took another washed plate and began to dry it and asked, “You were knocked to the ground as well during the accident; are you in pain, Dr. Hank? Were you injured in anyway?”

“Me? No, I’m fine. It was the ‘tall man with the silver hair’ that absorbed the impact of all of that. Gees! What a trip this turned out to be. We just wanted to have a fun weekend, you know? It started with the traffic jam and then this,” Hank said with a bit of quiet desperation.

Udo took one of the juice goblets to dry next and was quiet in case Dr. Hank wanted to say more. Udo was calm and hoped that Dr. Hank would feel the calm, too. Udo dried the other goblet and then began to dry the tableware, the cups and the saucers.

“Do you think that we could set up that dinner and the musical again? Not tomorrow, but maybe the next day; it might give Boris something to look forward to and that might cheer him up,” Hank pondered out loud as he scrubbed the omelet pan.

“That is a wonderful idea, I will make the arrangements for you,” Udo said cheerfully with the hope to lift Hank’s spirits.

“He had a bad dream, Udo,” Hank said.

“Oh? That is definitely not good,” Udo said as he dried fruit bowls.

“Yeah, in the middle of the night, he said he also woke in pain, he didn’t say it was a nightmare, but he still didn’t wake me; I must have been really been sound asleep; I wish he wouldn’t do that. I keep reminding him to wake me for any reason. Why does he do that?” Hank said as he scrubbed the sauté pan.

“It is His way to care for you; you slept soundly and He did not want to disturb you. I am certain that He so wishes to make things perfect for you, including for you to have a good night’s sleep,” Udo suggested as he dried the omelet pan.

“But doesn’t he understand that when I find out later that I could have helped him, that it’s not perfect? If he had just shared what his need was with me, I wouldn’t feel so bad; and I can’t tell him that I feel bad,” Hank said and scrubbed the pan a little harder even though it didn’t need the extra effort.

“Perhaps not, Sir; the Master is still new at this, you know, and walks a fine line that is between His needs and your needs and His nature is to place your needs, or others, before His own. I believe that He never wants to be a burden to you...yes, I know...” Udo started to say...

Hank interrupted him, “But it’s not a burden if he shares his needs with me; it’s a burden when he doesn’t. I just don’t want him to suffer, Udo; he’s suffered enough over the years,” Hank said as he put the pan in the drying rack.

“Please allow me to say this, Dr. Hank, the two of you are the most extraordinary of men and you have both suffered and had needs which were never fulfilled. Now that you are together, you work so hard to care for each other and fulfill each other and yet you do not want to burden each other so you hold back. You both are still learning that caring and fulfilling are not burdens, but the lack of caring and fulfilling is a burden. It also seems as though you are trying to make up for lost time, eh, the lost time when you were not together caring for each other – and you do so much for one another; how amazing that is, surely,” Udo suggested as he calmly dried the pan.

Hank looked at Udo with genuine curiosity and said, “Can you read minds? I mean, I was just thinking about that the other day.”

“No, Dr. Hank, I am unable to do that,” Udo said humbly.

 

Hank let Boris sleep. It became lunch time and Boris still slept; Hank wasn’t hungry anyway because he was worried about Boris. Udo came to check on them and was concerned that Hank wasn’t hungry – that never happened. Hank tried to make the excuse that they had a late breakfast; then Udo just looked at Hank, tilted his head in somewhat of a Boris mannerism, blinked, and waited for Hank to finally admit that it was worry that had dampened his appetite. Udo suggested that they have heavier snack with their afternoon coffee service, to which Hank agreed.

Around two o’clock, Hank went into the bedroom and then into the bathroom. When he came out of the bathroom, he walked over to their bed and sat down next to Boris, who was curled up somewhat on his right side and was just beginning to wake up. Hank smiled and leaned over to kiss Boris on his temple and again on his cheek.

Boris sighed and opened his eyes and whispered, “That is one of the most wonderful ways to be awakened,” He looked up at Hank and smiled slightly and he rolled slowly onto his back.

“Hi there,” Hank said softly with a smile, “How are you doing?” Hank moved some of Boris’ hair from his forehead and gently stroked Boris’ temple.

“Good lord, Hank, I feel so much better than earlier this morning. This was a good sleep, indeed, thank you for suggesting it to me, but...I must tell you something,” Boris said quietly.

“Oh? What’s on your mind?” Hank said softly and placed his hand on Boris’ chest at his heart.

They looked at each other and each smiled slightly; Boris said, “Before I fell asleep, I thought about this...I must apologize for not telling you about my bad dream and that I was in pain last night. I...just saw you sleeping so soundly that I simply could not bear to disturb you. I feel like I always disturb you because I always have something complicated happening to me and...”

Hank put his pointer finger tip on Boris’ lips and said, “Shhh, I understand, really, I do. I will never get upset with you when you share or tell me things; I do get upset with you when you don’t. So, the next time...” Hank paused a moment and leaned over to kiss Boris gently, “...so next time that you think you are disturbing me, think again; and then remind yourself that your Hank wants to know everything and then interrupt me, wake me, find me, whatever...and share with me whatever it is you need to share with me. Enable me, Boris, okay?”

“I shall try to be better at this, my beloved One,” Boris said sincerely.

Hank then held Boris’ face and leaned over again to kiss him once more and with a little bit more energy. Hank ended the kiss and wrapped his arms around Boris and lowered his upper body down on Boris’ so that Hank could put his face at Boris’ neck. Boris wrapped his arms around Hank and they stayed that way for a few moments and simply enjoyed each other’s presence.

Hank sat up again and said, “Go change your clothes and freshen up; then come and sit outside with me okay? Coffee and a snack are coming, kind of like a late lunch,” Hank stood up and waited for Boris to stand up as well. Dr. Hank watched Boris move and it did seem that he wasn’t in as much pain or had as much stiffness as before Boris had lain down.

Boris blinked and looked around the room and then at Hank and a small smile, “Ah, I feel much better, ja, indeed,” And he stretched his arms and then his back - a bit more carefully -- and gave Hank a pleased expression.

“See you out on the Terrace, Tree,” Hank said with a big smile and walked out of the bedroom.

 

It was warm out on the Terrace, but comfortable and Hank explained to Boris about his texts to Evan and how he shut off both of their phones...

“...and, you know, I don’t care anymore if Evan thinks that you and I can’t function individually, so what if we’re attached at the hip – like he says, I don’t think that’s a bad thing...yours in the only hip I’d want to be attached to anyway. Sometimes my brother just says things that just irk me,” Hank said cheerfully.

Boris chuckled and smiled, “What a unique turn of a phrase that is. I only wish to be attached to your hip, as you say, would knowing this make you feel better? Perhaps we should call Evan now and do you think we could get him to speak at a reasonable volume?”

“Let’s find out...ooh, wait, let’s use your phone and hear how he reacts to seeing your caller ID!” Hank said with a laugh.

Boris smiled and called Evan, he placed the phone on the table with the speaker on.

“Uh, hi, Boris, how are you?” Evan said in a subdued voice.

“Hello, Evan, thank you for asking, I am feeling a good deal better now,” Boris said in slightly stern voice, but smiled at Hank who smiled back at him, “Hank is here with me.”

“Hi, Evan,” Hank said.

“Yeah, so, uh, what’s new?” Evan said tentatively.

“I thought that you were the one with the news, Evan,” Boris reminded him.

“Uh, yeah, I do have some good news; um, and I promise that I won’t yell,” Evan said, “I’m sorry about this morning...I was just sooooo excited.”

“Understood,” Boris said.

“So, come on Evan, now that you have our undivided attention, what is so earth shattering?” Hank asked.

“Do you want the whole story?” Evan offered.

“No,” Boris said flatly.

“Evan!” Hank said with a slightly raised voice.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Evan cleared his throat, “Divya and Jeremiah are engaged! Can you believe it?”

At the same time: Boris said, “That is delightful news!” and Hank said, “Wow! This is terrific!”

Hank asked, “Did they give you permission to tell us?”

“Well, not exactly,” Evan said.

“Oh, good lord, Evan,” Boris said and rubbed his hand over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I know, but this was so exciting that I couldn’t hold it in...I JUST HAD TO TELL YOU GUYS!” Evan started to shout again.

“Keep your voice down, Evan,” Hank said with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, so I’m sure you’re both really busy, so thanks for letting me tell you this...I’m just so happy for them!” Evan said enthusiastically.

“Yes, indeed, Evan, this is wonderful to hear, surely,” Boris said with a slight smile.

“So, are you guys okay?” Evan said hesitantly.

Hank looked at Boris and said, “Yes, Evan, everything is just fine. Is there anything else we need to talk about?”

“Nope, that’s it, that’s my whole world right now,” Evan said and he sounded relieved.

“Is there anything else that you require of us at this time, Evan?” Boris asked politely.

“Nah, I’m good for now. I’m going to go and play some tennis, talk to you later!” Evan said cheerfully.

“Bye, Evan!” Hank responded happily.

“Enjoy your game, Evan,” Boris replied.

Boris and Hank sat there for a moment after Hank ended the call and looked at each other with slight smiles.

“At least he stays true to form,” Hank admitted.

“Ja, we just can never find out what that form truly is,” Boris replied.

 

They settled into bed that night and held each other close. Hank’s head was on Boris’ right shoulder as they still had swapped sides on the bed due to Boris’ more tender left side. Boris had felt better throughout the entire day and seemed to even be happy as they enjoyed the peace and quiet of the Penthouse. Dinner was a Chicken and Shitake Mushroom Soup with Wild Rice and Boris was very pleased; Hank teased Boris that he would like anything with rice in it.

Boris kissed Hank’s hair and breathed in deeply as he enjoyed Hank’s scent; he made a deep humming sound in his throat that was part of a tune from the ‘Piano Concerto No. 21’ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Hank smiled and then kissed Boris’ neck and earlobe and he, too, breathed in deeply and took in Boris’ ever-present scent of sandalwood. Hank often wondered, pleasantly, if he had become addicted to Boris’ scent.

Their eyes were closed and they shifted closer to one another, which was amazing because they were already plastered against one another.

Hank shifted differently and pressed himself, the now hardened portion of his body, against Boris and whispered, “Oh, Tree, I really would like to...”

Boris interrupted him Hank and took his left hand fingers, which had limited mobility because of the cast, but nevertheless guided Hank’s right arm lower in order to bring Hank’s right hand downward along his chest, onto the silk of his pajama trousers and on top of his own now hardening masculinity, “Please, my love, I need you also; I...am in no pain...” Boris murmured with delight as Hank’s hand moved.

Boris responded further to Hank’s hand which then found its way beneath Boris’ pajama trouser front and gripped him firmly and explored beneath the fabric. Boris tensed slightly and then opened his eyes to watch Hank move in a way so that he could peel away his cotton sleeping pants from his body and then the silk trousers from Boris’ body. Boris started to rise up.

Hank leaned down quickly and whispered into Boris’ ear, “Stay right there on your back, I’ll take care of this.”

Their eyes locked for a few moments and the trust and love that flowed between the two men was powerful. 

Boris looked up at Hank as he sat on Boris’ thighs with his knees and hips bent, he folded his legs on either side of Boris; Hank pulled his sleep shirt over his head as he sat upright and Boris took absolute delight as he watched Hank’s chest and abdomen muscles ripple from the motion. Boris reached upward with his right hand and his fingertips and palm roamed Hank’s skin from his chest to his lower abdomen. Hank looked down at Boris and slowly began to unbutton his pajama shirt, and as he did so, he exposed Boris’ broad chest. Boris propped himself up on his elbows and Hank removed Boris’ shirt completely from his body; Hank kissed Boris passionately and then gently pushed Boris back down to the bed.

Hank ran his fingers through Boris’ silver chest hair, and smiled as he did so, then moved and leaned down to place a kiss at Boris’ heart. Hank lowered himself and when he was in the right position, Hank kissed Boris hungrily and further moved with strong motions as he connected himself onto Boris, both of them gasped as he did so. Boris’ right hand grasped at the bed sheet and he groaned with pleasure.

Very soon, as the intensity built because of Hank’s movements, and demanded liberty, Boris pushed his head back deep into the pillow and with eyes tightly shut, he cried, “Ja, H-hank!” Boris’ body stiffened and shuttered from the pent up energy as it released him.

Hank cried out as well and just then did an all-consuming release fill Hank’s world. Hank slumped against Boris and Boris held Hank in a fierce embrace with both of his arms. 

They stayed that way for many moments as their breathing slowed. Hank started slightly as he realized he was a dead weight on top of Boris and began to move, but Boris still held him firmly and made a deep sound in his throat that Hank assumed meant, ‘No, stay’. 

After a moment more, Hank slid somewhat off of Boris and turned his head from where he had it at Boris’ neck and looked at Boris who still had his eyes closed. Hank moved a hand and with his fingertips wiped away a tear that had found its way out from under Boris’ dark eyelashes and was slowly sliding downward towards the hair line at his ear. 

Boris opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked at Hank; he smiled ever so slightly and whispered, “You may as well wipe away the tear from the other eye, too, my love,” Boris thought he imagined that Hank looked a bit misty-eyed himself.

Hank turned his head and saw what Boris meant and did wipe away that tear as well; he smiled at Boris.

As all parts of their bodies relaxed, Boris allowed Hank to further slide sideways off of him, but they still held onto each other. In the next moment, they kissed tenderly and held each other’s faces with a hand. There was moisture that needed to be wiped away and Hank reached to retrieve a small cloth from the nightstand drawer. He lovingly cared for both of them and folded and set the cloth aside, reached down to pull up the blankets to cover them before returning to be enveloped by Boris’ arms.

Hank spoke in a low voice, “Do you have any pain, Tree?”

Boris, too, spoke in a low voice, “Only just a small ache at my back; however, the remainder of me feels glorious...thank you for this sense of nirvana, my beloved One. Are you...well?”

“Yeah, everything is perfect at this moment,” Hank said quietly, “Are you warm enough?”

“Oh, ja, everything is perfect,” Boris replied.

 

~~~


	29. Raillery, Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan is fun to tease (although he might not think so); Boris’ question remains:   
> “Why would a real man wear a salmon, Evan?”

After breakfast, Hank went for a run. 

He had wanted to go outside (it was a very nice day in New York City), and maybe even run in Central Park, but Boris made a quiet comment which expressed concern and reminded Hank that the building’s gym - on the second and third floors - was pleasant, state-of-the-art gym, and was decorated with large potted trees, had floor to ceiling windows, tall ceilings, and high-end treadmills and various other ‘exercise-making’ machines (Boris’ words).

“What’s the matter?” Hank asked.

“Nothing...I am merely suggesting an alternative to your running in the park,” Boris said quietly, but his mannerism told Hank volumes.

Hank embraced Boris and looked up at him with a smile, “Are you worried about me?”

Boris raised his head proudly, looked across the Living Room and replied stoically, “I may have some degree of concern...for your safety in the Park, ja; and I do know that some of our team will be there with you....”

“You’re so cute when you get like this!” Hank said with a teasingly cheerful voice.

Boris looked down at Hank, knitted his eyebrows, and with an odd smile on his lips said, “You think that I am ‘cute’? How can you even consider that a man with this jaw line, and a name of Boris with four last names, who comes from an august and royal blood line, and one with complicated habits and a stubbornness such as mine, could ever be considered ‘cute’?” 

 

Hank ran on the treadmill in the building’s gym.

 

~~~

 

Boris seemed to have now crossed the threshold of feeling less pain for longer periods of time than he was in pain. The bruised kidney was close to being healed and his left flank and back were definitely not as tender as before, the various bruises on his body were nearly faded, he could walk around without the real use of his cane or the sling also for longer periods of time, and Boris now only took the pain medication when he only absolutely needed it.

Hank said, “How about a date night? Do you feel up to getting dressed up and having a night out on the town...uh, with me...tonight?”

Boris replied, “Ja, I would, that is a splendid idea. I have one question, Hank.”

Because Hank had asked Udo to already make the arrangements for that night, Hank said, “Great! I was hoping you would say that. What’s your question?”

Boris offered with a tilt of his head, “Who else would I wish to go on a date night with? You sound as if I have a choice.”

“It’s just a figure of speech, Boris; I’m being silly,” Hank admitted.

“Ah, I see. Well, perhaps on second thought I do have a choice...I can ask Udo or Jon Michel, or even perhaps Kevin, the building’s Head Doorman, ja, now let me think about this...” Boris looked across the office and out of the window as he smoothed his circle beard.

“Now, wait a minute, see, you don’t have a choice, I’m the only one on your dance card, mister,” Hank said seriously.

“Hmmm, perhaps Kevin could request an escort for me...perhaps a tall lithe blonde...” Boris teased.

“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT...no way, I cannot believe you are saying that!” Hank exclaimed.

“Perhaps Kevin can arrange two escorts, ah, a blonde and a brunette, one for each of my arms...” Boris pressed.

Hank came around the desk and grabbed Boris by the lapels of his jacket and raised him to a standing position; he looked up and deep into Boris’ eyes and saw Boris smile wickedly, “YOU are bad! So bad! I cannot believe you even teased about that! What am I going to do with you?” Hank said as it dawned on him that Boris was joking, but then something bubbled up inside of Hank that took him by surprise.

“Well, I seem to ask you this question a good number of times, my beloved One...what do you WANT to do with me?” Boris said with a smile.

“Argh!” Hank said with exasperation as he pulled Boris into a kiss.

They paused to breathe and Boris said, “The door to this office is open, Hank...”

“So what!” Hank said firmly as he pulled Boris over to the couch and somewhat pushed him to sit down with his hands flat on Boris’ chest.

Boris sat down and then looked up at Hank with an innocent expression and he wondered if he had made a mistake by teasing Hank and had teased too far, especially with the comment about the escort as that seemed to have dampened the mood suddenly. Boris expression changed slightly and Hank saw it as he sat down on the coffee table and squarely faced Boris and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Hank was upset and he was trying to figure out why. It was as if Boris had pushed an unknown button in his mind. Hank sat there with an expression of frustration which looked more forceful because of his crossed arms and knitted eyebrows as he tried to gather his thoughts. This was not going the way he had planned.

Boris continued to look up at Hank and did not say anything, but inside he became worried. He could see that Hank was thinking and the way Hank sat in front of Boris was full of tension. Boris became uncomfortable as he never wanted to upset Hank, but when he did – as apparently he did just now - Boris thought to himself that he was certainly thorough about it and cursed himself for it just the same.

Boris then said slowly, in a quiet voice and his expression as open and as sincere as he could manage, “I apologize if what I said was inappropriate, Hank. It appears that my jest was in bad taste. Please forgive me. Of course, I would only be with you on date night or any other night. I would never...ever take another over you, please know this,” Boris placed his hand, the one in the cast, lightly on Hank’s knee and hoped that Hank was not angry enough to swat it away.

Hank sighed and released his arms from their crossed position. He moved his right hand to hold Boris’ fingers which stuck out from the cast. Boris’ fingers were cool to the touch as usual and Hank used his other hand to now hold Boris’ right hand and brought them altogether in front of them and between both sets of their knees which had begun to touch each other. Hank looked down at their hands, turned them slightly and fingered Boris’ wedding ring with his thumb.

Boris then, too, turned their hands slowly after a moment and fingered Hank’s wedding ring and said, “I sometimes play too hard with your gentle soul, Hank; I am a true cad on occasion. What may I do to make amends with you?”

Hank then hesitantly said, “I don’t what happened to me just now, I can’t explain it. Maybe I’m tired, or something. The comment about the escort really grated on me, no, it really ticked me off. I...well...maybe, because I could suddenly just see that happening as if I wasn’t around. You’ve, uh, not...”

“No, Hank, I have never done that; and I would never do that. Dima used to do that when he would visit me here in New York. He enjoyed being the center of attention and he would go about town flanked by a blonde woman and a brunette woman, er, they were what he used to call “pretty female cuff links”, and you would not believe how strange that phrase actually sounds in Russian. Whenever he and I used to go to the symphony or theatre, Dima was quite the dashing brute and required the ladies to wear revealing...well; it is of no matter, surely...” Boris trailed off as he continued to look at Hank.

Hank smiled slightly as he began to feel relief only now frosted with confusion and said, “I can’t believe that I was jealous of an image of something that never happened to you. Why should I act this way? I’m a grown man for crying out loud!”

“It appears that I should only tease you about how fiercely you are in love with me, ja? Or, did that just happen?” Boris now looked confused for a moment, and then offered with all innocence, “You can tease me about how fiercely I am in love with you. Would that help?”

Hank smiled widely at that comment and released Boris’ hands, then pushed Boris’ knees together and moved from the coffee table to kneel on the couch, Hank’s bent legs on the outside of Boris’ legs and Hank sat on Boris’ thighs facing Boris. Hank took his hands and held Boris’ face for a few moments and he pressed Boris back further into the couch’s back and gazed down into his eyes. Boris hands rested on top of Hank’s thighs.

“We have never sat this way on a couch together before...” Boris said in wonder just before Hank leaned in to kiss Boris deeply.

When Boris caught his breath, he said quietly and mischievously as he looked up into Hank’s blue eyes, “This could be quite fun if we were naked, ja?”

 

The two men dressed for dinner and as they stood in the dressing room in front of the extra large mirror, they checked their appearances once more. Hank wore a classic black tux, a bright white shirt and a matching teal blue, silk brocade vest, bow tie and pocket square. Boris’ satin shawl collar black tux was complimented by a silver grey silk shirt and a matching emerald green damask bow tie, cummerbund and pocket square. 

They both wore the cuff links and stick pin sets that the Elders had given them. Boris was very pleased to be able to arrange the French cuffed shirt over the cast and use the cufflink there and he thought that his cane was a “rather stylish addition to his ensemble”. Hank said that Boris was his “High Fashion Guy”.

The entourage was set that evening and because of where Boris and Hank were dining, and that they were going to the ‘Met’ (aka: Metropolitan Opera House) to see ‘Phantom’, Udo and the team all wore stylish black tuxedos, with bow ties, as well. 

Dinner was at ‘Le Bernardin’ over in the West 50 Streets and it was rated as the number one restaurant in New York City by the Zagat Guide for the last eight years. Comments about this restaurant were on the level of: “a dazzling Midtown star”, “transcendent French seafood”, “with a deep wine list, exemplary staff and a soigné surround which further justify the sky-high tabs, so for a dream-come-true meal, this is as good as it gets”.

Boris had only been to ‘Le Bernardin’ once before a few years ago, just after he and Hank had actually met (at the party) and after Hank and Evan had come to live in the Guest House of Shadow Pond. Boris had been struck to his very core by his interest in Hank and took that first weekend to gather his thoughts; he did so by spiriting himself away to the Penthouse (and away from Hank) to think about this personal epiphany. Boris had cancelled business calls and postponed a new business project that weekend because he simply could not focus on anything except Hank.

Boris had sat for hours out on the Terrace during that long weekend as he thought about, wondered about, and pined for Hank and it had been the actual beginning of the decline in Boris’ health because he felt that what he now desired the most might never be attained. 

Boris had dined alone on the second evening at ‘Le Bernardin’ during that weekend, and Boris recalled how he felt during his solitary dinner. Boris had developed many thoughts and ideas during that dinner of someday sharing his world of experiences, as well as everything else in his life, with Hank, and continued to worry that it would never come to pass. 

And so, on this night, the dinner was extra special and a dream come true for Boris as he and Hank now actually shared everything together. Boris openly admitted all of this to Hank and Hank was deeply moved. Hank marveled as Boris sat adjacent to him at their table and bravely and openly recounted his feelings from that time. 

Udo saw their expressions and with all concern came over to them to see if he could be of help. He remembered the last time that Boris had been at the restaurant and what unfolded over the years since then, before the two men had become companions. 

Boris had actually confided in Udo that first weekend about his feelings for Hank and that was because there was a good deal of port involved, the wine more or less, freed Boris from closing himself off completely. Boris was not ashamed about sharing his thoughts with Udo during that weekend; Udo had been his trusted assistant for many years and Udo was polite and discreet and had NOT coaxed Boris into divulging his troubles. Boris was so troubled that he came to the realization himself that he needed to share what he felt about Hank with someone or something serious would have occurred that very weekend, and Udo was the most likely and most appropriate person; Udo had saved Boris from himself.

“Sirs, is there anything which I may assist you with at this time?” Udo said with sincerity and concern as he knew what was being talked about between the husbands.

Boris looked up at Udo, as Udo stood between them, and smiled, “No, Udo, my friend, we are fine. I was just telling Hank about the first time I dined here and...that week end,” Boris looked at Udo knowingly, “You recall this, too, ja?”

“Oh, yes, my Master, I do; and look at how much more different things are now...so much better,” Udo looked into Boris’ eyes for a moment longer, then smiled and cheerfully said as he looked at each man, “The way things are supposed to be...for both of you now.”

Hank said quietly, “Udo, I’m really glad that you were with Boris during that time, thank you for taking such good care of him.”

“It was, and is, my continued duty and pleasure, Dr. Hank, to have done so and to also now care for you both. Please continue to enjoy your evening,” Udo said with a formal bow and then returned to his table.

The two men then decided together that they would try their very best and not focus on any regrets of times lost in the past; they promised to help one another to climb out whenever they slid back into that old habit and sealed the promise with a toast from a bottle of a 1981 Chateau Calon Segur Bordeaux wine from the St. Estèphe Region in France – one of Boris’ most favored red wines. 

After dinner, they attended that evening’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’ performance at the Metropolitan Opera House. Boris’ box was Box 33 on the Grand Tier which was the second box over from the Director’s Box. There were six seats in the box and that night only Boris and Hank sat there. Udo and Yussef were just outside the box, Jon Michel and Misha were down the corridor and Anton and Richard stayed with the cars.

The Opera House was a magnificent building and the people who attended that night were all dressed in elegant clothing and everyone seemed to be holding a glass with some sort of sparkling wine in it. Boris and Hank did not imbibe as they had finished the entire bottle of the Calon Segur and also wanted to have port later on out on the Terrace.

There were also several other notable and elite guests attending that night, and they each had their own variations of an entourage with them. Boris did not recognize anyone he knew, but there was a slight nod of the head between him and other notables as a type of discreet greeting. Hank followed Boris’ lead and nodded in tandem with Boris, and felt more at ease as the evening continued; Boris did his best to make Hank feel comfortable by being in constant touch with Hank and held Hank’s arm with the fingers of his casted hand (without the sling) and used his cane lightly as they moved about the House. Boris, too, felt more comfortable as he held onto Hank. They knew they were attracting attention by this mannerism, even though Hank commented playfully that they “...just looked really good...”, but they smiled in agreement at each other that this is what they wanted to do and felt empowered by it.

They were escorted to their box and Hank was enthralled by the view of the House and the stage from the box and smiled widely, which in turn, made Boris extremely happy. Boris sat down immediately as he was a bit weary at that moment; Hank stood and looked out over the enormous space and down at the stage and then turned and leaned against the half wall and faced Boris. Hank got an idea and stepped to the box doorway.

“Please do not leave me, Hank, where are you going?” Boris asked with some degree of concern.

“Hang on, Boris...” Hank said with a smile as he poked his head back into the box; he saw Boris’ trepidation and made a hand movement that he would be quick. After a moment, “Okay, I’m back,” He said cheerfully and took his seat next to Boris.

“Where did you go?” Boris said with a tilt of his head as he looked at Hank and was cheered by his bright eyes.

“I asked for something, it should be coming soon,” Hank said as he patted Boris’ right hand which was resting on the arm of the chair but would say nothing more.

“You are being mysterious in an Opera House, how intriguing,” Boris said with a chuckle.

Three minutes later, a server arrived with a coffee service for two. Hank smiled widely at Boris and said, “Surprise!”

Boris’ face lit up, “Splendid! Thank you, Hank, this is most thoughtful.”

 

‘Phantom of the Opera’ was (and most likely will always be) one of the most magnificent and gripping musical performances of all times and the two men, like everyone else at the House that evening, were mesmerized.

 

On the drive back to their building, Hank said, “I’m going to use one of your words, Boris. Glorious! This evening has been glorious!”

Boris smiled warmly at Hank and let Hank’s enthusiasm wash away some of the tension he held, still, from his admittance over what he experienced that first week end after he first met Hank; Boris admitted privately to himself that the pain of that time long ago still had a slight grip on his heart. All Boris needed now was the two of them to be out on the Terrace together; he was certain that would help him to calm. Boris sat next to Hank on the drive back and had his right hand on the inside of Hank’s knee. Inside, Boris chided himself for feeling so awkward and sentimental, but he didn’t share that with Hank; ‘his’ Hank was too happy at the moment as they talked about the ‘Phantom’ performance and Boris would have died first than to douse that flame.

As they got out of the car in front of their building, Hank stepped out first after Udo had opened the door for them; as Boris started to get out of the car, a large truck drove by the entourage and the sound and vibration was deafening. It startled Boris because he was too deep into his thoughts and he hit his cast on the car door frame and fell back into the car. For a moment, he froze and thought the worse.

“Good lord! What in Hades’ Realm was that?” Boris said very loudly as he looked up at Hank and Udo with wide eyes.

“It was just a really loud truck and I think he was going way too fast! Are you okay?” Hank exclaimed.

“I do not really know that answer, Hank. I am too stunned at the moment,” Boris admitted in his deep voice.

Surrounded by Misha, Anton, and Richard, Hank and Udo then helped Boris out of the car and they stood on the inside sidewalk in front of the building and looked up at him. Boris blinked several times and looked around, rooted to the ground for the moment, and attempted to see if he felt any pain. Udo handed Boris his cane.

Boris took a deep breath and said, “It appears that I am fine at this moment; that was...odd. I should like for us to go into the relative safety and silence of our building...now.”

“Are you sure you can walk okay?” Dr. Hank asked as they began to move towards the entrance doors.

“Ja, I am fine, but I cannot help but think that New York is, eh, gunning for me on this trip,” Boris said with a wary expression on his face.

 

The two men thanked Udo and their team for their efforts that day and released them from their duties. It was quite late but both Boris and Hank were not yet ready for sleep. They changed from their tuxedos into their sleep clothes, robes and slippers.

“Hank, would you care to join me for a glass of port before we retire?” Boris asked as he stood in the Living Room and looked around.

“Sure, is it nice enough to sit outside?” Hank went outside and came back in, “You know, if we get a small fire in the pit going over by the couch, it’ll be perfect.”

Hank started the fire and Boris poured the port wine.

The husbands settled themselves on the couch, Hank leaned against Boris’ left side as usual (as he was no longer in pain there), Boris’ casted left arm was around Hank and rested on Hank’s belly, they held their glasses of port in their right hands and both of them had their feet up on the small footstools which were on the Terrace floor between the couch and the fire pit. The sounds of the city were muffled and lower due to the fact that it was now well past midnight; they would hear the occasional car horn – it was, after all, New York City, and the city never slept. They both sipped on their wine and stared into the flickering fire.

Boris leaned his left cheek against Hank’s hair, breathed in the scent of Hank’s hair, and thought about how this very moment was his version of heaven. Boris smiled slightly and said, “How are you, my love?”

“I should be asking you that, I am the doctor here, you know,” Hank teased, “But, I’m fine. This was terrific night, thank you.”

“Ja, and we finally were able to have our New York date night,” Boris mused.

“Why did you fall?” Hank asked simply.

“Er, I was startled by that excessively loud truck,” Boris said plainly.

“But you’re usually so aware of your surroundings and with that exceptional hearing you have, I’m just surprised. I mean, I don’t get to the see the look of shock on your face too often,” Hank admitted, “Not that I want to see that look at all on your face.”

Boris sipped on his port and offered, “I was thinking and did not pay full attention.”

“You shared a lot with me today, Tree, are you okay?” Hank asked gently and took a sip of his port.

“I am fine; I simply did not realize how much I had recalled from that painful time in my life. I had wished for you to be in my life so badly back then...I wanted that more than anything. I did not realize back then that you were my soul mate; eh, I just knew that my existence depended on my being with you. Remarkable, surely,” Boris said quietly.

“We are amazing, you and me; just amazing. I thought you just wanted to be my patient and my friend, but you went about it in such a different way...oh, and of course I was so clueless about your real intent. Hey, remember what we said in the restaurant...our promise? Now, you’re not sliding back into the regret thing are you, because if you are, I’ve got to pull you out – it’s my job,” Hank said cheerfully.

“Eh, no, just thinking, not sliding. Ah, this tranquility is divine, ja?” Boris said and took two sips.

“Yes, this really nice. When do you want to go home to Shadow Pond?” Hank asked.

“Perhaps in two or three days, if that is agreeable to you,” Boris said as he finished his port and then looked at the glass and wondered idly why the port had gone so quickly. He reached over and placed his empty glass on the side table.

“Sounds good; let’s go back on Monday. We’ll need to get your arm x-rayed; I am eager to see how the bone is knitting and I want to do a scan on your left kidney, hmmm, we should do a blood draw, too,” Hank thought out loud.

“All right, whatever you wish to do, my body is yours to poke and prod as you see fit,” Boris said lightly.

Hank turned and sat up somewhat so that he could look at Boris; Hank smiled and quoted, “You told me to “poke and prod”, that’s funny,” Hank drank the rest of his port; he also looked at the glass as if to wonder where the port had gone and then leaned over and put the empty glass on the other side table.

“Ja, I may have poured them too light. I can go and get the bottle and truly give us something to drink; we always have a great deal of fun when we do that,” Boris suggested.

Hank started to move into the position he was in earlier when they were in the office, and he said, “Nah, I just want to make out with my husband right now,” Hank then moved and sat on Boris’ thighs again with his folded legs on either side of Boris’ upper legs. Hank’s knees were against the back of the couch as he faced Boris and took Boris’ face in his hands. 

They looked into each other’s eyes and in the dim, yet romantic light of the Terrace they smiled at one another. 

Hank leaned in and began to kiss Boris tenderly and in between kisses he slowly said, “You...were so incredibly...handsome tonight...wearing that tux. I saw both...women and men...looking at you.”

Boris chuckled and kissed Hank back, and said between the kisses he returned, as he touched Hank at his trim waist and at his back and felt Hank’s muscles move on his back through the light fabric of his sleep shirt and robe, “That was...one reason, why...I was holding...onto you.”

Hank leaned down further, closed his eyes, and captured Boris’ earlobe with his lips; he then kissed Boris’ neck and inhaled his sandalwood scent and then breathed on Boris’ neck; Hank ran his hands through Boris’ hair at the back of his head and held him there and kissed Boris deeply and then began to move slightly and push Boris sideways so that Boris could lounge lengthwise on the couch with Hank on top of him, as he still nuzzled Boris’ neck, earlobe, and now cheek, temple, and his forehead.

Boris closed his eyes and simply held onto Hank with his long elegant right hand and traced the outline of his shoulder and jaw with that hand and moved the fingers of his casted hand along Hank’s side and down the small of his back.

Their slippers had fallen off their feet by this time and they were slightly tangled up in their robes, but they didn’t mind that at all. Hank was in charge and set the pace for the kissing, the nuzzling and the touching. Their hardened masculinities rubbed against each other and Hank moved himself in such a way, as he was above Boris who had his back on the seat of the couch, so that his firmness was against and next to Boris’ and Hank pushed his hips downward so that there was delightful pressure and teasing was felt through their clothing.

The small fire had, by then, gone out in the fire pit in front of them, and the only light in the Penthouse was the one shining from the bedroom – the lamp at Hank’s side of the bed – and the door was half open. It was dark and very little light shone onto the Terrace from the city.

Their robes and sleeping clothes were also dark colors and the cushions on the couch were a shade of deep brown; the darkness of the night surrounded the lovers and gave them privacy where they were. Boris’ silver hair softly reflected what little light was on the Terrace.

Boris whispered between Hank’s kisses, eager roaming hands, and Hank’s pressing downward on his body, “Please H-hank...you have brought me to the edge...”

Hank shifted his weight and moved Boris’ robe aside and his pajama trousers downward as he still kissed Boris in favored places; Hank knew he could draw Boris slightly further towards ‘the edge’, and slowly said between kisses, “I’ve seen you today...I’ve heard you today...I’ve touched you today...I’ve smelled you today...”

“H-hank, my beloved...” Boris moaned as he felt he was unable to handle more.

“I need to taste you now...” Hank whispered...

 

Moments later, when Boris’ senses came back to him, he whispered breathlessly to Hank, “Take yours now, my love, please.”

 

Moments later still, Hank laid behind Boris on the couch, both of them on their right sides with their bedclothes and robes still on their bodies but in wild disarray, and tried to catch their breaths. Hank held onto Boris tightly, shuddered, and groaned into the back of Boris’ neck, his face buried in Boris’ beautiful silver hair.

 

They drifted off to sleep, but not before Hank took his robe, which was still on his shoulders, and tried to cover them both as if it were blanket. Twenty minutes later, a cold breeze wafted across the Terrace and awakened Hank; his first thought, ‘Boris cannot get chilled’, and so he woke Boris gently.

Boris murmured, “Ja?”

“Come on Boris, the temperature is dropping, let’s get to bed where it’s warm,” Hank said quietly as he began to move and help the very sleepy Boris to sit and then to stand.

They adjusted their sleep clothes to better cover themselves and then Hank led the still very sleepy Boris, by holding his right arm, into the Penthouse, closed the slider door, and they walked to their bedroom.

Only robes were removed and draped on the edge of the bed; and they climbed into bed and settled together with Boris’ head on Hank’ shoulder, with legs entwined, and arms wrapped around each other.

Then, after they settled into bed together, Boris said, in a low and deep voice before he drifted back to sleep, “Nearly Paris.”

Hank smiled and repeated, “Yeah, nearly Paris.”

 

Udo checked on the two men at eight a.m. and found them soundly asleep and curled up along side of each other. Udo smiled as he closed the door to their bedroom and then walked to the Terrace to retrieve the wine glasses that he saw through the slider door glass, and, to his surprise, both pairs of their slippers in a jumble. He looked around the Terrace to see if there was anything else that they left there and then placed their slippers neatly side-by-side along the wall just to the left of their bedroom door. He prepared a pot of coffee in the insulated carafe and left them a note which asked for them to notify him when they were ready for their breakfast. 

At ten, Udo returned as he had not heard from them; he saw that the coffee pot had not been touched and went to their bedroom. He knocked once, opened the door silently, peeked inward and saw Boris holding Hank’s robe as Hank turned to put his arms into the sleeves. 

“Ah! Good morning, Udo, how are you this morning?” Boris asked as he waited for Udo to come through the door.

“Good Morning, Masters, I am well, thank you,” Udo said as he opened the door most of the way and stepped into the room one step.

Hank now held Boris’ robe, and as Boris slid his arms into the sleeves, said, “Hi, Udo, good morning!”

“It appears that you are both well rested, there is hot coffee but it is old now and I shall go and make you something fresh,” Udo said cheerfully.

“Hank, where are our slippers?” Boris asked as he looked around the bedroom floor from where he stood.

Udo turned slightly, bent down, retrieved the slippers which he had placed by the door, turned and walked further into the room to place the slippers at each of their feet, “Here you are, Sirs; I found them out on the Terrace.”

Boris and Hank looked at each other and smiled widely with sly expressions.

“Ooh, we left our port glasses out there too, sorry about that, Udo,” Hank said shyly.

“Do not worry, Dr. Hank, all is well,” Udo said as turned and left the bedroom.

They followed Udo to the kitchen and Hank said, “This coffee will be fine,” And he pulled out two cups and poured the coffee into them, “This sealed carafe keeps the coffee fresh and hot; do you want some coffee, Udo?”

“No, thank you, Dr. Hank, I am fine; do you have a taste for something specific for your breakfast this morning?” Udo asked.

“I am just fine with just the coffee...”Boris started to say...

...but Dr. Hank interrupted him and cheerfully said, “Eh, eh, eh, what are Dr. Hank’s rules? Three meals a day! Um, I know, can we have pancakes?” 

Udo looked at Boris as if to ask if that is what he wanted as well.

Boris sipped on his coffee and replied, “Ja, that is fine, as long as there are blueberries and pecans involved...er, thank you, Udo, whatever you both decide is fine... ” Boris waved his casted hand in the air slightly and turned to walk out onto the Terrace with his cup of coffee in his right hand.

Hank winked at Udo and said, “Maybe some bacon, too! Thanks, Udo!”

Udo bowed slightly to Hank and replied, “Enjoy your coffee, Dr. Hank, I shall prepare your breakfast and bring it out to you in a short while.”

Hank trotted after Boris, and was careful to not spill his coffee.

Boris stood out on the Terrace and surveyed the immediate area and the city beyond. He felt very good that morning and was pleased with everything at the moment.

Hank walked up to Boris and they looked at each other with smiles on their faces. The touched coffee cups and each took a sip.

Boris chuckled and said, “Nearly Paris.”

Hank loved the way Boris said the word: parh ree.

“Oh, wow, that was awesome, so nearly Paris is right,” Hank looked up at Boris and admired the color of his skin and his hair in the morning sunlight.

Boris looked downward at Hank and saw the many shades of blue that made up Hank’s eyes, “I would like to make a suggestion for an excursion today.”

“Really?” Hank said as he sat down at the outdoor dining table, “You want to go out today?”

“Ja, I feel good and wish to walk,” Boris said plainly

“Okay, what’s your plan,” Hank asked.

“The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is a splendid place to walk and has the Steinhardt Conservatory building and gardens devoted to the fragrances and plants mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. I doubt there will be skateboarders there and it appears that it shall be a most pleasant day weather wise,” Boris said simply as he sat down across the table from Hank.

“All right, that sounds nice,” Hank said.

 

~~~

 

“Okay, lie still now,” Hank instructed.

Hank had spread the ultrasound gel across the section of Boris’ lower back and was about to move the transducer along the area of Boris’ left kidney.

Boris laid belly down on the exam table in the Shadow Pond Infirmary with the right side of his face on a small pillow on the table. His shirt, tie, and jacket were neatly folded and draped across the back of a nearby chair and he watched Hank out of the corner of his eye. Boris enjoyed the look on Hank’s face when he was in full doctor mode and was fascinated by the calm intensity of Hank’s eyes as he studied the monitor.

Hank had done the x-ray of Boris’ broken arm a few moments before; Nurse Joanne had processed the images (for them to view in a few moments) and also had prepared the supplies they needed to do a blood draw on Boris after Hank finished with the ultrasound.

“All right, so far,” Hank said as he slid the probe back and forth along Boris’ skin, sometimes pressing more firmly than other times so that he could get a complete, and mostly three-dimensional, image of the kidney, “Your kidney looks good, it seems like most of the bruising has finally gone away...” Hank paused as he studied the imagery further as he saw different aspects of the kidney on the screen, and then moved the probe again, “I’m saving these images and will be sharing them with Dr. Jackson at Hamptons Heritage so he can give us a final say on the condition...but I think you’re fine, Boris.”

Boris nodded his head from where he was on the table.

Hank lifted the transducer from Boris’ skin, wiped the sensing end with a paper towel and placed the transducer in its cradle, “Stay there a moment and let me wipe off the gel,” Hank touched a button on the monitor and a quiet beep was heard which indicated the imagery had been saved.

Hank took another paper towel and wiped Boris’ skin and then folded up the towel and removed the nitrile gloves from his hands and tossed it all into the trash bin near the sink; as Hank washed his hands in the sink, he said, “Okay, Boris, you can sit up now. Are you feeling okay?”

“Ja, I am fine,” Boris said plainly as he moved to sit up on the table, “Time for the blood draw now?” Boris sat upright, smiled slightly and looked around the Infirmary.

“Yup, are we all set up, Joanne?” Hank said as he came back towards the exam table.

“Yes, we are,” Joanne said as she brought a rolling tray with the supplies neatly arranged on it over towards Boris.

Boris looked at Joanne and asked, “How are you today, Nurse Joanne?”

“Oh, I’m good, busy but not crazy busy,” Joanne said as she straightened the supplies again and looked shyly up at Boris.

Boris squinted at Joanne, tilted his head and said quietly, “Are you certain you are all right? You seem preoccupied; is there something that I may assist you with?”

“Oh, no,” Joanne laughed nervously, “Really, I’m fine,” She couldn’t quite explain to Boris that the energy she sensed from him that afternoon was somewhat overpowering, but in a good way. Joanne had really only sensed Boris’ energy when he was either intensely ill or, for lack of a better description, calm and stable; she was not accustomed to his full and confident healthy level of energy. 

Hank smiled as he watched their interaction because he knew what Joanne was experiencing and knew that she would talk to Hank about it later. Hank imagined too that Joanne was also nervous because Boris was sitting there strong and upright with his shirt off and no one, man or woman, would be immune to Boris’ vitality...Hank knew he wasn’t immune and enjoyed the feeling tremendously.

Hank walked over to Boris and smiled at him; their eyes met and they studied each other’s face for a moment. Boris extended his right arm forward so that the back of his hand rested on his knee. Hank had put on another pair of gloves, placed the tourniquet around Boris’ upper arm, sanitized the spot on his arm and used the Vacuette and Evacuated Tube System to fill three different sized Vacutainers of Boris’ blood for testing.

Joanne saw the connection and felt a wave of strength flow between them as Hank touched and held Boris’ arm during the procedure and was somewhat stunned for a moment by the completeness of the wave. She then turned towards the computer to check the images of Boris’ arm and made sure they were ready for Hank to view. She took a deep breath.

Udo then walked into the Infirmary with Jacob and Efraim in tow as they would be taking Boris’ vials of blood to Hamptons Heritage for testing.

Boris and Hank smiled at each other as Hank placed a cotton ball on the puncture site and then smoothed a small adhesive bandage across the cotton ball. They both knew that Udo sent an armed squad with the blood vials and found it charmingly overprotective. 

“Here you go, Udo,” Hank handed the sealing bag with the vials and the signed instructions, “Thank you, guys!”

Udo smiled, bowed slightly, took the bag and he, Jacob, and Efraim turned as one and left the Infirmary.

As his gloves came off and he washed his hands again, Hank said, “Okay, that’s it, Boris, you can get dressed now and let’s take a look at the x-rays.”

As Boris dressed, Hank looked intently at the computer monitor at the images and Joanne turned quickly so that she didn’t stare at Boris and could prepare the exam table and the rolling cart for the next time that they would need it.

Boris tucked his shirt into his trousers and asked, “So, what do you see, Hank?”

“I can certainly see the break, and it is mending...oh, yeah, there’s the hairline fracture of your left ulna that Dr. Simons’ saw on your original x-rays,” Hank said.

“Both of my bones broke?” Boris said as he put on his tie and adjusted the collar of his shirt.

“Yeah, one very broken and the other one had started to break...you are so lucky, Boris, really you are,” Hank said as he looked up at Boris who put on his jacket and had come near the computer equipment to see what Hank was looking at. Hank pointed to the cracks with his finger on the screen, “See?”

“Eh,” Boris put on his reading glasses and moved his head to see the screen better, “Ah, ja, I see; it is not a wonder now why it ached so much.”

Hank worked at the computer for a few moments as typed, moved the mouse, and pushed buttons as he sent off the images to Hamptons Heritage for final diagnosis, “Well, that’s it for now. Would you like to go for a walk before lunch?”

“That would be splendid,” Boris said as he stepped back, put his glasses in his jacket breast pocket and watched Hank stand up, “Thank you, Hank, for your care,” He smiled and touched Hank on his arm.

“You’re welcome,” Hank smiled back at Boris, touched his arm in return, and then turned to Joanne and said, “Hey, Joanne! Thanks for your help; if you don’t need me for anything, we’re going for a walk.”

“Nope, it’s all good, have fun you two!” Joanne said cheerfully as Hank waved to her, Boris nodded his head, and they both turned and walked out of the Infirmary.

Joanne smiled and shook her head as she laughed silently to herself as she turned to continue her work, ‘Wow, those two guys are just incredible.’

 

“Did you call your Aunt?” Hank asked from the Bath Room.

“Ja, Hank, I called her this morning when you went on your run,” Boris replied; he was lounging in bed while he read his current book, ‘The Divine Comedy’ by Dante Aligheri in French, “She was quite happy to know that we were home safely and that I was on the mend. She said hello and sends you her love.”

“Excellent,” Hank said as he walked towards their bed and climbed in.

Boris removed his glasses, closed the book and set them both on his nightstand as he said, “You know, Hank, you have not told me yet which trip you preferred us to take for your birthday. Have you made a decision yet?”

Hank wore a thoughtful face and said, “I have decided, sorta.”

“Hmmm...sort-a,” Boris repeated as he looked fondly at Hank.

“I mean that I’d like to modify the idea, if that’s okay with you,” Hank said cheerfully.

“It is YOUR birthday, even if you wished to stay home, that could be your choice, too,” Boris replied simply.

“I’m really interested in going to visit...our...women’s college in Thailand. You said it was a while since you had been there and I’d bet that they would like to see you again...” Hank said and paused, “...But I think that the side trip to Bali may be too much. Maybe we can just take part of a week to visit the college and the rest of the week as a vacation.”

“As you wish, my beloved One; Thailand is beautiful and intriguing and there is a lovely hotel there ...ah, the Peninsula Bangkok which is on the river,” Boris said with a reminiscent tone of voice.

“This sounds nice,” Hank said, “and I suppose that I’ll never be able to enjoy Thai food here in America once I’ve had real Thai food in Thailand.”

“Ja, Hank, you shall be spoiled for life,” Boris said as they settled into bed together with Boris’ head on Hank’s shoulder.

“Ha! Yeah, we could talk a lot about being spoiled. Now, you know we won’t be able to leave until you are out of that cast and have full mobility with your hand and wrist again, right?” Hank reminded.

“How long will this break take to heal?” Boris asked.

“It’s only been three weeks and based on what I saw on the x-rays today, I’m guessing another three at least, most likely four...I hate to sound gross, but that bone snapped like a twig, Boris. We’ve got to work to keep you really healthy so your body can heal the bone solid, and it’s helpful for your bones that you’re already taking a fair amount of supplements for other things, calcium and vitamin D included,” Hank said. 

“The wrap we have for the cast is good for when I shower, however, I miss swimming my laps; is not there something we can wrap around the cast to prevent it from getting wet?” Boris asked.

“There is something called a Aqua Cast, but it has such a tight fit that you can only wear it for a maximum of 45 minutes at a time, or you lose circulation in the limb – that’s not an optimum situation to me, I mean, you cut down on the circulation and the injury doesn’t heal. It just doesn’t make sense,” Hank replied.

“I understand; as much as I loathe to be upon the machine, perhaps I should start walking on the treadmill, at a fast pace, once a day, so that I can remain active and keep my circulation up,” Boris suggested.

Hank kissed Boris’ hair and said, “That’s a great idea! What if we move the treadmill to the West Sitting Room and have it face the windows? The view from that room is beautiful; you might enjoy the walk more.”

“Our project for tomorrow, then,” Boris said as he snuggled closer to Hank.

 

~~~

 

Khalil knocked three times on the door frame of Boris’ office. 

Boris was working that afternoon and it was getting along to five o’clock. He didn’t look up at the sound and said, “Please come in, Khalil.” 

 

Boris found that if he angled his left arm a certain way, then he could type somewhat decently even with the hindrance created by the cast. He was unable to type at his usual rapid pace, and did have to correct his work a great deal. He also discovered that he couldn’t keep the arm at that angle for more than an hour or his shoulder would begin to ache. Boris surmised that working for an hour at a time and then resting his left side (by reading business reports, etc.) for a while before returning to typing, was better than nothing.

Boris had also continued to move his fingers as he did the first day after the accident, only now several weeks later, it didn’t hurt to do that movement. He was bound and determined to not let his fingers stiffen up. 

Playing the cello was another situation, however, as he could not play yet until the cast was off. He had tried to play with the cast on and then had to deal with a high level of frustration afterwards when he failed in the attempt.

 

“Good afternoon, Sir, do you have moment?” Khalil asked as he walked across the large room.

“Ah, Khalil, good afternoon; is everything in order?” Boris asked; he took his hands off of the keyboard and rested them on the desk.

“Yes, all is well except for one item,” Khalil replied.

“And what would that be?” Boris said with a slightly wary tone of voice.

“The senior Mr. Lawson was observed visiting Mr. Evan this afternoon at the Guest House,” Khalil stated.

“I see. Well, I do suppose that Evan is entitled to visit with his father whenever he chooses,” Boris replied.

“Mr. Lawson went only to the Guest House. He arrived at two p.m., stayed for three hours and has just now left the property. I had one team posted along the interior corridor to the main house, as well as the two outside paths to the main house. He left the Guest House, went directly to his vehicle, and left. We observed his car drive out of the gates and down the road away from Shadow Pond,” Khalil said.

Boris took a sip of cold tea, placed the glass back onto the coaster, and looked across the office, “Good. Thank you for managing that situation completely, Khalil; I know that you would have handled it perfectly if Mr. Lawson had decided to be...creative. I appreciate not knowing of this distraction; I had much to do this afternoon and Hank told me that he was going to be busy; I am nearly certain that Hank would have also appreciated not knowing about this event as well,” Boris said after a moment, “Mr. Lawson’s habit of arriving here at the main house unannounced, expecting to meet with Hank as if that were appropriate and then think that his visit would not upset Hank, as he usually does, is worrisome. Does Hank know that his father was here?”

“No, Sir, Dr. Hank has been in the Infirmary since after you both had lunch,” Khalil said.

Hank then walked into Boris’ office and said cheerfully, “Oh, hi, Khalil, how are you?”

“Hello Dr. Hank, I am well, thank you, and yourself?” Khalil said.

“I’m great! I got so much done today,” Hank said happily as he sat down on one of the chairs that were in front of Boris’ desk. He stretched his arms wide, then wove his fingers together, and placed his hands behind his head as he leaned back comfortably into the chair. Hank looked at Boris and then again at Khalil and saw their somewhat serious expressions and said, “Uh, am I interrupting something?” Hank started to stand back up.

“No, Hank, you are not interrupting,” Boris waved his right hand downward indicating that Hank should stay seated, looked at Khalil and then asked, “Should we need to know anything else?”

“That is all, Sir,” Khalil offered.

“Thank you, Khalil, I will take care of the rest,” Boris said as his eyes flickered to Hank and then back to Khalil.

“Good afternoon, Sirs,” Khalil said, bowed slightly and left the office.

“So...what did I miss?” Hank asked, still cheerfully but now with slight wariness.

Boris took another sip of tea, looked at Hank, and said, “You may not find this pleasing to hear, Hank, but Khalil just informed me that your father was on Shadow Pond property today visiting Evan in the Guest House.”

“Oh, okay...well, Evan can visit with anyone he wants to visit with,” Hank’s expression took on a thoughtful look, “I’m glad that he didn’t try to come and visit with me. I guess he finally got the hint, huh? Gees, that would have just ruined my day.”

“Perhaps he has. Are you all right, Hank?” Boris asked gently and watched Hank carefully.

“You know what? Yeah, I’m fine, really. I’m done with him. He’s always going to haunt me; I can’t control him, but it is how I feel and act about it that is in my control. I’m never happy when he’s around and that isn’t healthy for me, or you, or anyone here, so, he just doesn’t belong in my life right now. Maybe that will change, maybe not, whatever...I’ll make that decision when the time is right,” Hank said confidently and with a smile on his face.

Boris smiled slightly and nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ve come to tell you that your work day is now officially over and since we didn’t have our usual break today, I’m inviting you to join me to sit outside for a drink,” Hank said cheerfully.

“That sounds very nice, Hank, allow me to save...this one report,” Boris looked at his computer screen, saved the report, closed the laptop and stood up. He stretched his arm and rotated his left shoulder a little.

“Does that shoulder ache a lot?” Hank asked.

“Only some; I may have pushed myself a little bit this afternoon, but I too, was able to accomplish a great deal,” Boris said as he came around his desk and watched Hank stand up.

They walked out of the Office together and as they walked to the Main Living Room and poured their drinks at the bar, they filled each other in about the work they had done that day. Hank had finalized the staff’s annual physicals and the respective paperwork was now complete; Boris had learned that their Hospital in Tibet was doing well and the additional supply shipments were of great help, and that he had begun to communicate with the Headmistress of their college in Thailand regarding their pending visit in June.

They walked out of the double French doors and then sat outside in the seating area on the Upper Lawn and found that it was comfortable underneath the new umbrella there.

“I got the final diagnostics from your ultrasound, blood work and x-rays today,” Hank said hesitantly because he knew that Boris wasn’t going to like some of the news.

“Oh? You do not seem very pleased,” Boris said warily.

“First off, your kidney is fine. Secondly, your blood work levels are your normal. The blood transfusion helped keep your anemia at bay. Third and I wish I had better news for you, Boris, but they think you’ll need to be in the cast for another four weeks,” Hank said.

“I see; that is greatly disappointing,” Boris said sadly and then took a sip of his drink, “Well, there is nothing we can do about that; I shall just resign myself to this fact,” Boris began to move the fingers that stuck out from the cast automatically as he said this and looked out over the Formal Gardens. 

Hank saw this and said cheerfully, “We’ll take x-rays three weeks from now and see how the healing is going and just maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“How long shall I then be in physical therapy?” Boris asked as the calendar in his mind was ticking off some dates.

“Most likely two weeks, but I know that you’ll push yourself,” Hank said and he sipped on his drink.

Boris looked over at Hank, smiled slightly and decided to change the subject, “Is our staff healthy?”

“Yeah, overall, they are a healthy group of people; I’m working through a few minor issues with three of them, but they are doing well,” Hank said happily.

“Good to know; is there anything further that we can do for them?” Boris asked sincerely.

“Everyone has said that we are so helpful to them, they seem to be very happy,” Hank offered.

“By the timeline you have just described, it appears that we shall just make being in Thailand on your actual birth date,” Boris said thoughtfully.

“You know, it is okay if we’re still at home, we don’t HAVE to be in Thailand on my actual birthday,” Hank said.

“Ja, I know Hank...” Boris said quietly. He thought about the special celebration that he and the Headmistress had planned for Hank and of his backup plan to whisk Hank away in the helicopter to the Blue Hill at Stone Barns Restaurant up in the Pocantico Hills of New York on his actual birth date.

Just then, Evan came around the building and saw them in the seating area, and changed his direction, but in doing so, his tennis shoes made a loud screeching sound on the pavement. Boris and Hank turned their heads towards the direction of the sound and saw Evan.

“Oh, hahaha, hi guys,” Evan said sheepishly, “Uh, I was just going to go and play some tennis. Sorry to bother you.”

“Come on over for a minute, Evan,” Hank said as he waved Evan over towards them.

Evan spun his tennis racket in his hands in a somewhat nervous gesture and walked over to stand near the seating area, but at an overly polite distance.

“We shall not bite you, Evan, you can come, sit down, and visit with us, if you wish,” Boris said plainly, “Would you like to join us for a drink?” Boris held up his right hand and made a hand motion, which was seen by Marie who was at the other set of French doors waiting to be of service and she came over quickly.

Evan took two steps closer to the seating area and looked down at the two men as they sat next to each other and each held a cut crystal glass with dark amber liquid in it, “Uh, yeah, sure, thanks...what are you drinking?”

Hank said, “Today,” As he looked at the glass and swirled the ice around gently, “It’s 12-year old Zaya Rum with sugared lime juice on the rocks.”

“Oh, uh, that sounds good, okay, I’ll have one of those,” Evan said as he moved to sit down on a chair opposite of the two men.

Marie nodded her head and went back to the house to prepare his drink.

“How has your day been, Evan?” Boris asked politely.

“It’s been good, not too busy for me, HankMed’s humming like top,” Evan said.

“That is good news,” Boris said, “Do you have many patients?”

“Yes, we have a full work load, which is good business!” Evan said enthusiastically.

Marie brought out Evan’s drink and set it on the side table, Evan thanked her and she stepped back to her place by the door.

“What else have you been up to?” Hank asked as he looked at Evan with a smiling face.

“Oh, not much, its been a quiet day,” Evan said and then took a sip from the glass, “Wow, this is really good! I bet this would taste great with Diet Coke.”

Boris cringed slightly and said, “Forgive me, Evan, but I am going to correct your thoughts on this. One only mixes this smooth, 12-year old sipping rum with nothing more than some ice, a little cane sugar, and fresh lime juice. To mix it with an artificially-sweetened carbonated beverage is an insult to the Trinidadian distillers who create this fine spirit.”

“Oh, okay, I will remember that, sorry,” Evan said as he took another large sip, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Boris had the expression on his face which clearly showed: ‘Of course, I am ‘right’, Evan.’

Hank took a sip and asked, “Anything else going on today, Evan?”

“Nope, it’s all good, a nice quiet day, did some laundry, and I’ll be playing tennis in a while,” Evan said evasively.

Hank looked at Boris and they both smiled slightly.

“What are you guys up to?” Evan asked.

“Hank and I were both quite busy today; I had business to tend to with our Shipyard and our Hospital, and Hank was busy in the Infirmary; sitting out here now is the first break we have had this afternoon...it is quite nice outside now,” Boris said pleasantly as he looked around, but wasn’t going to mention he was also working on their next travel plans to Evan.

“How’s your arm Boris?” Evan asked.

“Hank tells me it is healing,” Boris stated.

“Yeah, he’s going to have the cast on for a few more weeks. So, nothing else happened today with you, Evan?” Hank asked again.

“No, Henry, for like the 80th time, nothing else happened today!” Evan said with a little exasperation; he drank the rest of the cocktail quickly, and then stood up, “Hey, thanks for the drink, you guys, I’m feelin’ the need to whack a few balls...if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the tennis court! See ya later!” Evan then trotted off towards the Lower Gardens, with Marie trotting after him to retrieve the glass, and waved as he did so.

Hank waved back at Evan and turned back to Boris. They both took another sip of their cocktail; they both still had half of the drink left in their glasses.

“That was interesting,” Hank said.

“Quite,” Boris replied.

 

~~~

 

Divya and Jeremiah’s engagement party was held at the Madoo Conservatory in Sagaponak, which was a few miles away from Boris’ and Hank’s favorite ‘walking beach’. It was a lovely, small gathering in the two-acre garden and catered by a top-rate Hampton’s caterer who specialized in garden parties. Canapés, finger sandwiches, fruit tarts and sparkling wine from California were enjoyed that afternoon. 

Evan, Steven, and Vera from HankMed, Nurse Joanne, several Hamptons Heritage doctors, nurses, and technicians who worked closely with the couple through HankMed and who had become close friends, and of course Boris and Hank were there. The garden was in full bloom and they had hired a local band to play lively 70’s-90’s pop music.

Jeremiah’s parents were unable to attend because they were traveling in Alaska and Divya’s parents were both speakers at conferences and could not get there in time. Both sets of parents promised to be at the wedding which was set for next spring.

Everyone was dressed in comfortable, light summer clothing that competed with the array of colorful flowers which bloomed in the garden. Jeremiah wore a light grey suit with a pale blue shirt and Divya wore a pale yellow and gold sari.

Hank couldn’t resist teasing Evan about his pink suit; Hank would say, “Real men don’t wear pink!”

Evan’s reply was that it was a salmon color and “...real men wear salmon...”

Boris came into the conversation late because he had stepped away to get glasses of wine for them, and asked, “Why would a real man wear a salmon, Evan?”

Multiple toasts were offered to the engaged couple throughout the afternoon; Jeremiah was very proud to be engaged to his ‘beautiful Divya’ and appeared more confident than any of his friends had seen him in a long while; Divya was radiant with the joy she expressed that she was engaged to her very best friend.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Boris and Hank asked to speak to the engaged couple privately.

“Congratulations, once again,” Boris said with all sincerity, a small smile, and with a slight bow of his head.

Hank smiled and said, “Yeah, we are so happy for you,” Hank looked at Boris and Boris nodded; Hank continued, “We heard that you are still deciding on a venue for the wedding.”

Jeremiah said, “Yes, we have narrowed it down to three locations here in the Hamptons.”

“Who would have thought it would be such a challenge to choose?” Divya said with a wide smile and she went on to briefly describe the three venues.

“Well, we don’t want to make this more complicated for you two, but...” Hank paused and looked at Boris again.

Boris smiled reassuringly and nodded; he said, “Go ahead, Hank, it is all right.”

“Well, Boris and I would like to offer Shadow Pond for you to use as your wedding venue, if you’re interested,” Hank started to say this with shyness and then felt more confident by the end of the sentence. Hank still couldn’t believe sometimes that Shadow Pond belonged to him too now, and that it was perfectly fine for him to make the offer just as much as it was fine for Boris to make the offer.

The expressions on both Jeremiah’s and Divya’s faces went from surprise to gratitude and they looked at each other quickly and nodded simultaneously.

Divya had tears in her eyes and she said, “Oh, my word, this is so generous of you!”

Jeremiah cleared his throat and replied, “Yes, this is very thoughtful; we don’t know what to say...”

The engaged couple looked at each other and nodded quickly and then turned back to look at Boris and Hank.

Boris said gently, “Well, a ‘yes’ would be nice, but it is completely your decision.”

Divya looked at Jeremiah and he smiled slightly and nodded his head again. She looked back at Boris and then at Hank and said, “It would be lovely to have Shadow Pond as our wedding venue, thank you, yes!” Then she hugged Hank, who of course, hugged her back.

Jeremiah shook Boris’ hand vigorously and then shook Hank’s hand as Divya stepped in front of Boris; they hesitated for a moment and then Boris hugged Divya.

 

~~~

 

“You’re awfully quiet, Boris, is everything okay?” Hank asked.

“Ja, I am fine, I was just enjoying the feel of the sand under my feet,” Boris replied.

The two husbands took a beach walk one afternoon after a drive in the Vantage with the top down. They were shadowed by Udo and Yussef, as well as Richard and Misha; Anton stayed with the cars. 

The beach was busy that afternoon and there many people around them. Hank thought it was unusual for Boris to suggest an afternoon walk on the beach, when there were other people everywhere – lots of other people. There were kites and frisbees and beach balls flying past them and down the beach; children ran around haphazardly, people jogged along the surf line, and the husbands had to make sure that they didn’t step on anyone’s sandcastle – it was quite a circus (at least to Boris’ sensibilities and he commented as such).

Usually their walks were in the morning when they could usually be more alone – this was how Boris usually wanted it. But today, he suggested an afternoon walk. Boris knew that Hank enjoyed being out and about with more people and he was trying to make himself more comfortable with that. Boris had told himself that he couldn’t continually subject Hank to all of his own personal preferences; that just wouldn’t be fair to Hank.

They continued to walk at their usual pace and Hank looked at Boris and said, “Thank you, Boris, I know what you’re doing; thank you, this is really nice of you.”

Boris looked at Hank and smiled in a lopsided way, looked away at a distant spot on the beach and said, “Ah, you see right through me, now. You are welcome.”

They walked a little further. 

“How do you become comfortable with all of this?” Boris asked innocently as he held his right hand outward from his body with his palm up.

“All of what?” Hank asked.

“The noise, the randomness, the...” Boris stopped because the thought of noise and randomness in addition to being surrounded by the noise and randomness on the beach at the moment was overwhelming to him.

Hank chuckled because he understood what Boris was experiencing at the moment, “If you have always been around it, like I have been, it’s just a natural thing to get used to, that’s all. It’s the same as the tranquility and orderliness that your life is; it’s what is natural to you,” Hank said simply.

“Ah, quite,” Boris said.

A few moments went by and they continued to walk.

“Hank, do you enjoy the tranquility and orderliness of our life at home?” Boris asked openly.

Without hesitation, Hank replied, “Yes, Boris, I do. At first, I wasn’t sure because I had never had any of that, especially when I was living with Evan – it is definitely not tranquil or orderly. But then in just a short while, I felt much calmer inside, much less harried and I realized that it was good for me. So, I really should be thanking you for bringing that aspect into my life.”

Boris looked at Hank and smiled at him in his slight way and nodded.

The continued to walk and then Boris held his casted left arm with his right arm across his abdomen.

Hank asked, “It feels heavy today?”

“Ja,” Boris said.

“We can take x-rays tomorrow if you want; it’s almost been three weeks,” Hank suggested.

“That would be good I think, I would simply like to know if I am healing,” Boris offered.

Just then, a little girl ran up to Boris and pointed her short little finger at his cast, “You have a cast like me!” And she stuck her arm high up in the air to show Boris her cast.

They stopped and looked down at the little girl; she was practically covered from head to toe with sand and her red curly hair looked like an unbound skein of yarn that had been thrown down a flight of stairs. She had a cast on her left arm and it was dirty and full of sand and had many writings in many different colors on it.

The girl’s father walked up to them and they all smiled at each other.

Boris crouched down so that he and the little girl could compare casts.

Boris said gently to her, “Ja, I do. How did you break your arm, young lady?”

“Playground accident,” She stated proudly with her chin in the air, “How did you break yours?”

Boris looked up at Hank, then up at the father, then back at the little girl and said, “Skateboard accident.”

“That’s cool, bye!” She said quickly, waved with enthusiasm, and then ran off down the beach with her father in tow.


	30. Realigns, Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Often, situations need a little effort in order to return to their normal state of being.

“So, how about you guys come over here for Saturday’s lunch? I can cook this time!” Evan enthusiastically asked Hank over the cell phone as Hank held it slightly away from his ear so that Boris could hear what was being said without the speaker being on.

Boris whispered, “Why is he calling so late?”

The two men were settled into bed that evening and had just nestled together comfortably; Hank took the call because Evan didn’t ever call at night and Hank was worried that something had happened to him.

Hank shrugged his shoulders slightly and shook his head and whispered, “I don’t know,” Hank then got a sly look on his face and put his pointer finger up and whispered, “Hang on, I’ve got an idea.”

Boris smiled and put his head back down on Hank’s chest and chuckled at little bit.

“What did you say, Henry? Is Boris there? Do you guys want to come over?” Evan asked.

“Hey, Evan, yes, Boris is here, and do you know what time it is?” Hank asked as he stroked Boris’ hair.

“Uh, yeah, it’s like nine o’clock or something,” Evan replied.

“Uh, no, Evan, it’s more like 10:30...at night...” Hank started to say and then moaned a little bit because Boris had just hugged him a little more firmly.

“Oh, really? What was that sound you just made, Bro?” Evan asked with complete innocence, “Wait, let me turn down the TV so I can hear you better.”

Hank made the sound again but with a slightly different tone because Boris had just placed a hand at a very nice spot on Hank’s body.

“Well, it is late, Evan, and WE are in bed, Evan, and...” Hank started to say, but Boris did something else very nice with that spot on Hank’s body, “...Oh, yeah, that’s really awesome, I like that...” And then Hank started to chuckle.

“What’s going on, Henry? Uh, wait, are you okay?” Evan said with a confused tone of voice.

“Evan, can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m a little busy right now...” Hank said plainly, but he enjoyed what Boris was doing and could imagine his brother’s confusion and enjoyed that as well; sometimes, Evan really didn’t immediately listen to what Hank would say and then it would catch up to him. Hank was waiting on that very moment.

“Yeah, sure, but are you okay?” Evan said pleadingly and with confusion.

Boris had by now moved himself to be on top of Hank with his head on Hank’s shoulder and nuzzled his neck and nibbled on his earlobe; he had his right arm wrapped around Hank at his torso and the casted left arm behind his neck, and Hank responded with, “Hmmm...oh yeah; hey, Evan, I’m really okay now...”

Then it dawned on Evan.

“SERIOUSLY?! Bro! And you’re still talking to me on the phone!” Evan exclaimed.

“Well, at least I’m not on the toilet, Evan,” Hank offered innocently but had the widest grin on his face; Hank whispered to Boris, “I am having so much fun right now.”

Boris chuckled deeply; Evan heard the chuckle and what Hank had whispered.

“That’s NOT right; I just can’t believe you guys!” Evan raised his voice.

Because Boris’ head was at Hank’s neck and he knew that Evan could hear him, Boris said in his deep voice as he shifted his body further onto Hank, “Ja, Evan, we shall lunch with you on Saturday; please excuse us as we have business to attend to at the moment.”

Hank moaned at that moment and Evan heard it.

“OH GEES!” Evan cried and hung up the phone.

“Oh, that was a lot of fun,” Hank said with a laugh which Boris enjoyed immensely because he was still kissing Hank’s neck; Hank reached to put the phone on the night stand, but he was distracted, missed, and the phone ended up on the floor next to the bed.

“Absolutely delightful...now onto our business...” Boris said quietly and with a chuckle.

 

~~~

 

Boris sat on a chair with his left casted arm lying along the exam table on top of a plastic sheet. His coat was draped across another chair and he had folded the shirt sleeve on that arm up to above his elbow. As Hank and Joanne prepared the equipment, he watched them and continued to flex his fingers.

“I’m afraid this is going to be really loud and pretty messy,” Hank said.

“It shall be worth it to finally have this thing off of my arm,” Boris replied flatly.

Hank’s eyebrows went up slightly because he knew that nothing could prepare Boris for this, “Ready?”

Boris nodded and in the next moment grimaced because of onslaught of the grinding sound that the rotary cutter made. The high pitch whine echoed throughout the Infirmary and Udo also flinched at the sound.

Hank guided the tool along Boris’ arm with ease and although the plastic sheet caught most of the dust and bits that flicked off the cast, some bits still flew outwards in different directions and hit everyone at least once. Two slices were needed, one alongside the outside of Boris’ arm and one along the inside; doing this would allow Hank to remove the cast in two pieces.

The second slice was made, and Hank shut the cutter off; Joanne unplugged the tool and Hank handed it to her to set it aside to cool. Everyone took a moment privately to recuperate from the sound invasion and the silence was now deafening.

“You were correct, that was exceedingly loud,” Boris said plainly.

Udo took a step closer so that he could see better; he was very excited for the Master to have the cast removed. 

Hank looked at Boris and they smiled slightly at each other. Hank carefully lifted one half of the cast away and gave it to Joanne to set aside, “Okay, now lift your arm a little bit up so I can remove the other side,” Hank instructed; as Boris lifted not only his arm, but his shoulder, Hank removed the cast and the plastic sheet under it with Joanne guiding it further away. Hank guided Boris’ arm carefully onto the towel that was already beneath the sheet.

Boris said quietly, “Hank, I should...like to keep the part with Tom-mee’s writing.”

Hank smiled widely at his sentimental husband and replied, “Of course we can do that. Now, move your fingers slowly for me. Good. Now, move your wrist slowly left to right. If it hurts, stop immediately.”

Hank, Joanne, Udo, and Boris all watched Boris’ hand move slightly and he grimaced slightly.

“This is normal for it to ache a little bit, this is just stiffness; now move your hand up and back down,” Hank said, “What I need to know is if there are any sharp pains.”

Boris did as he was instructed and grimaced again; he looked up at Hank.

Hank smiled again and said, “This is actually very good range of motion for just coming out of the cast. Now here’s the tricky one, I want you rotate your hand so that your palm is on the towel. Take this very slowly; it’s your first time moving this part of your body in seven weeks,” Hank’s fingers were gentle on Boris’ arm, “And do you see the difference in your forearm muscles? They’ve atrophied due to immobility, so you have to do this very slowly, so you don’t tear anything. Here, let me guide your hand, and if there is any pain, stop, okay?”

Boris saw how thin his forearm was and felt alarm; as they turned his hand, Boris felt something and stopped his hand half way, looked at Hank with wide eyes and said, “I feel a tugging inside there, it feels tight but there is no pain.”

“Good, that is actually you feeling your muscles move, and that means there is no nerve damage; let’s keep going,” Hank said.

They continued to slowly turn Boris’ hand and now that it was palm down on the towel, the scar from where the bone had torn through his skin could now be seen. Udo and Boris himself took a slight intake of breath at the sight of four-inch-long tear with a series of sutures neatly across it. Joanne’s expression was guarded, like Hank, and they both were calm – for their patient’s sake.

Boris said hesitantly, “I did not think...it...was that long, Hank. It is of no wonder that you could put your fingers into that... space.”

Hank said, as he and Joanne looked closer at the sutures, “Yeah, unfortunately there was plenty of space for me to do that,” Then Hank said for Joanne’s benefit, “I needed to push the radius back down in and reseat it together, and I had to push aside the muscles, blood vessels and nerves so that nothing was crushed or torn, so my fingers were inside of his arm. I used Udo’s tie to wrap it up and stop the bleeding.”

“Do not forget about the ice bath, Hank; that was a shock,” Boris said in a flat tone of voice.

“Oh, right, I had Richard grab someone’s ice chest, take everything out of it except the ice and the water and we kept the arm in there until the paramedics came.”

Joanne nodded and said, “I understand; that was quick thinking. They did nice work on the sutures and I don’t see any infection.”

Hank said, as he continued to look at the arm, “Yeah, this looks good. Hmmm, what I’d like to do now is to wash your arm, Boris, and put some antibiotic ointment on the wound and cover it with a bandage. We’ll keep a close eye on this area and judging by the look of things, in a few days, we’ll be able to remove the stitches. We need to keep a bandage on the site to keep it clean and so that the sutures aren’t torn by anything until we remove them.”

Joanne brought over a small basin, a pitcher of water, a sponge, a small bottle of liquid medical soap, and a couple of towels. Udo stepped over to assist and they smiled at each other; Udo wanted to be the one to wash Boris’ arm and Joanne smiled again at this charming gesture.

Hank stepped back a few steps to give them some space; Boris looked up at Joanne and then Udo and smiled slightly.

“I will be careful, Master,” Udo said quietly as he looked at Boris.

“I know, Udo, you are always careful with me; thank you,” Boris said, “Hank, is it normal for my skin to be...covered in grey dust like this?”

“Yes, it is, Boris; your arm hasn’t seen any light or moisture for a long time, so for the next few days, you should keep it really clean and moisturize the skin; we’ll also sit outside and get some shaded sunlight on it, that will be very helpful,” Hank said.

As Udo washed Boris’ arm, he said, “I have brought a bottle of your lotion with me, it is in my pocket.”

Boris smiled as he looked up at Udo and said, “You are too good to me, Udo, I do not deserve you.”

As Udo finished his task, he smiled at his Master with a calm expression, but Udo’s thought was that, ‘You deserve more than me, Sir.’ 

Joanne handed Udo a dry towel and Udo patted Boris’ arm gently; he set aside the towel and drew out the lotion from his jacket pocket and spread it gently across Boris’ skin. Udo kept from his face the worry he felt inside about how frail the arm looked; Udo made himself believe that soon the muscles would be normal and that his Master would be healthy and strong again.

Udo stepped back and now it was Joanne’s turn to use the ointment and place the bandage over the wound. She, too, was gentle and said, “We should probably change the bandage every other day, however, all of this hair on your arm isn’t going to like all of the, uh, attention from the adhesive tape. I’m sorry in advance.”

Boris was still looking at how thin and wasted his arm looked and worked through that concern in his mind as he said, “Do not worry about that, Nurse Joanne, there will no need for the bandages soon enough. Thank you for your care.”

“Okay, that’s it for now. Boris, you are going to need to be very careful now until the strength comes back to your arm. You can’t hit your arm or get bumped on the arm, so keep it close to your body for safe keeping. You can start to use it but sparingly at first. If there is even a minor degree of pain, immediately stop what you’re doing with it,” Hank watched Boris as he stood up from the chair.

Boris looked at his arm and the bandage and nodded his head.

Hank added, “And if your arm feels tired, you can always use the sling.”

Boris looked up at Hank with an expression of, ‘In your dreams, Doctor’.

Udo then said, “It is almost time for your lunches, Masters. The outside dining area is prepared; this may be helpful to let some fresh air and sunlight touch your arm, Sir?”

“Great idea, Udo!” Hank said as he grabbed Boris’ coat, “Leave the sleeve rolled up for now. Thank you, Joanne, for your help.”

“Sure thing; uh, and you wanted to keep this part?” Joanne said as she held up the section of the cast that Tommy had written on.

Boris’ eyes lit up and he said, “Ah, ja, I do! Thank you, that is...a very special object.”

 

As they sat outside, Boris commented on how strange the air felt on his arm; he thought he should have his arm in the direct sunlight, but Hank told him that sitting under the umbrella was fine for now citing too much of a good thing was bad and suggested to give it a few days before being fully out in the sun. Udo had left the bottle of lotion on the table for Boris to use, and he did so as they waited for their lunch.

“Do you feel any pain?” Hank asked.

“Not really, just a dull ache, I suppose due to all of this movement and attention, ja?” Boris said.

“Yes, you’re right and we’ve got to be very careful now. There is no protection on that arm; don’t lift anything yet with the arm until we get through the strength building exercises,” Hank said.

Over lunch, Hank described the physical therapy plan that he created for Boris and Boris asked why it was only one hour a day. Hank explained that as Boris’ arm became more mobile, that movement would be helpful and was like a half-strength version of the therapy. Hank further explained that at first, therapy was going to feel like it hurt more than help; then as the muscles became stronger, it would all ease back into normalcy.

“And you know how I am Boris, if I see you pushing yourself too much, I’m going to say something,” Hank said cheerfully.

“I know...I would not have it any other way,” Boris said with a slight smile.

 

~~~

 

The next day, Boris went to his Office to work for the afternoon and as he approached his desk, he saw that someone, he assumed it was Udo, had placed the ‘autographed’ half section of his cast there. It had been cleaned of dust from the removal. He stood there with an amused smile on his face and touched the cast gently with the fingers on his left hand. Boris thought of ‘Tom-mee’ and the boy's little fingers had traced along the cast; Boris also thought about how Tommy had concentrated hard to write neatly on the cast and had scrunched up his face, as well as Tommy’s sincere affection and open offer of friendship. Boris closed his eyes a moment and he could hear in his mind Tommy’s voice say, “Mister Boris”.

Boris gently picked up the cast and was surprised at its lack of weight; he said, “Huh,” Out loud to himself because even though it was only half of the cast, he thought that it certainly felt heavier when it was on his arm.

Boris looked around his office and admired the decor and furnishings, as he did from time to time, and thought about where he could place the cast. He said, “Ah!” Aloud as he decided and walked over to the shelves which held some artifacts that he had collected over the years, and to the section that the Medicine Buddha statue was housed in. Boris tilted his head one way and then the other and then decided that the third shelf down from the Buddha statue was the most appropriate place for the cast to reside in. 

He placed the cast carefully on a nearby table and went about rearranging the artifacts in a way that cleared an entire shelf. He was careful to not use his left arm too much as its continual dull ache reminded him of what Hank had said. Boris went through the day without taking medication for the ache because he felt it reminded him that he was still healing, but he planned to take something before bedtime.

As he worked, Boris hummed to himself a part of a waltz, ‘Voices of Spring,’ by Johann Strauss II. He held each artifact with care in his right hand and admired them as he moved them all about to look proper in their new places of rest on the shelves. Memories also came to his mind as he held each artifact and he smiled in his slight way.

It took about thirty minutes for Boris to finish the project and when everything was in order, he picked up the cast and placed it in the center of the third shelf. He tilted his head again and thought that he preferred it to be angled more upright but still horizontally, so he went about looking through the cupboards below the shelving to find a small easel. 

Boris found what he was looking for and set the cast upon it, moved it slightly back to be directly under the light fixture on the shelf; he looked back towards his desk and then back at the shelf and determined that he could view the cast ‘quite nicely’ from where he sat as his desk. Boris crossed his arms at his chest and took a step back to admire his work and nodded with approval. His eyes scanned the entire wall of shelves and he reached with his right hand here and there to turn or adjust a few artifacts so that everything was completely to his liking.

He stepped back further and with arms crossed again and a hand smoothing his silver circle beard, he spent a few longer moments admiring the items and he thought about many things while he continued to hum the waltz.

 

Udo had walked to Boris’ office to check on him and see if he wanted coffee and stopped just outside the doorway as he saw Boris reach up to put the finishing touches on his rearrangement of the artifacts on the shelves, and thought it best to not interrupt his Master, so he stayed out of Boris’ line of sight. Udo smiled to himself and decided he would return in a while, so he turned and walked back down the corridor.

 

~~~

 

Boris didn’t growl very often, but when he did, it was impressive. 

After a full week of daily range of motion and stretching therapy on his left arm, Hank then introduced strength exercises. These were designed to build strength in the muscles that surrounded the broken bone, as well as build the strength within the bone, and although they started with lighter weights and lighter resistance bands, Boris’ muscles had atrophied so much that there was a fair amount of work ahead to get him back to his pre-accident strength. Boris’ determination was intense and towards the end of each session, when the pain began, it made Boris growl.

Because strength exercises needed 48 hours between sessions for the muscles to rest and heal, Hank had Boris continue the other exercises in between those sessions so that he wouldn’t become too frustrated. Hank saw that Boris was making progress and was always quick to comment as such – positive reinforcement and reminders that progress was being made were crucial, especially for someone like Boris. Of course, Boris wasn’t very patient with his arm muscles and Hank had to watch that Boris didn’t damage himself and warned him that if he pushed too hard, they would need to start back at the beginning.

Hank didn’t tell Boris yet that there were advanced exercises after the ones he was working on because Hank knew that Boris would just skip forward to the advanced level and that would have been a destructive thing to have happen. Hank decided that when he saw the correct amount of strength gained, he would reward Boris and teach him the advanced movements.

One of the best things to come out of this current situation was that Boris could now play the cello again. His entire arm had the correct range of motion now and his fingers were a little slow at the beginning, but they quickly caught up with what he expected them to do. Boris was also quite pleased that he could type on his computer once again.

The upcoming trip to Thailand was discussed extensively and Hank put his foot down for them to take more time for Boris to heal rather than less. He absolutely refused to allow them to travel half way across the globe unless they were BOTH at 100%. This meant that they would not be in Bangkok until about the week and a half to two weeks after Hank’s birthday and Hank had to assure Boris that it was all just fine. Boris wanted them to be in Bangkok on Hank’s birthday and went so far as to mention that a special event had been planned and now, because of Boris’ injury and Hank’s insistence, the celebration had to be postponed.

 

~~~

 

“Why is it so important that we be in Thailand on my actual birthday?” Hank asked one morning as they got ready for their day.

“Specific dates can be very powerful, Hank, and because I planned something for you – on your birthday there. Now we must move it to another date,” Boris said with disappointment.

“I can’t change my decision, Boris; your health means more to me than...anything...okay? Please try and understand,” Hank said plainly and had said the word ‘anything’ very slowly to emphasize his point.

Boris sighed deeply, and he finished rinsing his straight razor and laid it on the vanity to dry. He knew Hank was right and felt humbled somewhat by Hank’s dedication. As he then dried his face with a towel and smoothed the sandalwood shaving tonic and lotion over his cheeks and neck, he asked innocently, “May I be allowed to at least take you out to dinner on your birth date?”

“Where?” Hank asked warily.

“A nice place...nearby” Boris said evasively as he walked out of the Bath Room and into their Closet Room.

Hank followed Boris into the Closet Room and they both began to choose their clothing for the day, “Where, nearby?” Hank asked.

“I cannot give up all of my secrets; nearby in...America,” Boris teased as he waved his right hand in the air.

“Yes, you CAN give up all of your secrets to ME, your husband,” Hank said as he purposely stripped off both his sleeping shirt and pants at that moment with the hopes to distract Boris enough with his muscular nakedness to give up his secret.

“Hmmm,” Boris said as he watched Hank, “A good try, but that will not work today.”

“Really, am I getting fat or something?” Hank said as he looked at himself in the triple mirror.

“No, not in the least bit; your body is quite handsome to me,” Boris said with confidence as he leaned against one of the closet sections, still dressed in his silk pajamas with his arms crossed in front of his chest and an amused expression on his face as he scanned Hank’s body from head to foot.

“Good, because you’re not the only one worried about his girlish figure, you know,” Hank said as he started to believe that Boris really wasn’t going to tell him anything further now.

They stared at each other for a few moments.

Boris decided to tease Hank a little further and he moved from his position and as he walked over to his side of the closet, he began to unbutton his pajama shirt; he looked at his clothing and began to choose his outfit for the day, “Would you be satisfied with knowing...” Boris removed his shirt and hung it on a nearby knob on the side of the closet, “That your dinner would be here...” Boris turned to face Hank and give him a better view of his bare chest – which he knew Hank enjoyed, “On the East coast?”

“Maybe,” Hank said with a pout as he walked closer to Boris.

Naked Hank stood near half-naked Boris and they looked at each other for a moment with amused expressions.

“...Within the state of New York?” Boris offered somewhat smugly.

“Better,” Hank stated as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and also wore a very smug expression.

“That is really all I can say at this moment. Your birthday now is one week away, and I shall be much healthier by then, ja?” Boris said as he brought up his left arm and then clenched and opened his left hand twice.

Hank reached out and held Boris’ wrist and said, “Provided you don’t push your physical therapy to the injury point.”

“If I promise to be a good boy, H-hank, will you allow me to take you to dinner?” Boris said in a silky voice.

Hank released Boris’ wrist after he moved Boris arm so that he could better view the scar which now did not have any stitches or a bandage on it; and he took a moment to do that and then said, “Almost yes.”

Boris leaned into Hank and said, “I promise.”

Hank took Boris’ face with his hands and stepped a little closer to him, “Thank you,” And then Hank kissed Boris with tenderness.

Boris began to lean in further, as Hank’s nakedness had started to somewhat distract Boris, and he attempted to wrap his arms around Hank, but Hank ended the kiss and stepped away quickly and then walked back over to his side of the closet.

Hank’s naked back and backside were in Boris’ full view and Hank said as he faced his side of the closet and began to choose his outfit, “It is going to be a great day!”

 

At the Guest House...

“Ah, this is...rather nice, Evan,” Boris said pleasantly as he sat at the shaded outdoor patio dining table and watched Evan grill chicken on the BBQ.

It was finally the Evan-Hosted-Saturday-Lunch, which had to be postponed twice because Evan suddenly had, “...important pool parties to do networking at for HankMed...” 

For the lunch, Evan had set a good-looking table and planned his menu – without any help from Boris’ chefs - and he tried to remember things that Boris didn’t like, as in ice or drinking beer out of bottles, and things he did like, as in using tableware and cloth napkins. Evan knew Hank was good with just about anything, so Evan focused on Boris and hoped that his brother-in-law also liked Mexican flavors.

“Yeah, thanks for being patient with me, you guys; I had some serious networking to do at those pool parties,” Evan said gratefully.

Hank laughed.

“How much networking can one accomplish when everyone is clothed in merely swim wear?” Boris asked sincerely with his eyebrows knitted together as he tried to visualize the event. Because Boris’ daily wear was always a suit, shirt, a tie and a pocket square, dress shoes and belt, he simply couldn’t imagine closing major business deals wearing only his swim suit. Boris almost laughed despite of his confusion.

“A lot! Believe me! And there was some really nice swim wear!” Evan said with a dreamy expression on his face as he flipped the chicken pieces over on the grill.

“Evan, why don’t you just come clean and admit that it is what was inside the swim wear that you networked,” Hank said with a grin.

Boris chuckled out loud at that comment.

“Well, gees, you have to be friendly at those kinds of parties, right?” Evan said with all honesty.

“Was there any particular swim wear you networked the most with?” Hank asked as he smiled at Boris.

“Yeah, there might have been one red bikini...” Evan said as he studied the temperature gauge on the grill.

“What was her name, Evan?” Boris asked.

Both Hank and Evan looked at Boris and he looked back at both of them as if to ask: ‘What? Did I say something wrong?’

Hank laughed.

“The red bikini’s name might have been Stephanie,” Evan admitted as he realized that Boris now looked directly at him and had that expression which seemed to be the one, to Evan, which showed that Boris expected an answer to his question, “And, uh, we’re going to meet for coffee tomorrow afternoon and then we’re going to...”

Boris held up a hand and said plainly, “You need not tell us everything, Evan; we were just curious as to what her name was, that is all.”

“Oh, which reminds me, if I invite her here, do I need to get your security czar’s clearance?” Evan said as he closed the grill lid.

“My what?” Boris asked as he looked at Hank with the confused expression and the tilt of his head.

“You know, your security czar, what’s-his-name, Jameell, or whatever...hang on, I’ll be right back,” Evan said as he walked back into the house to get something from the refrigerator.

Boris looked at Hank and said, “It is a good thing that Khalil is not present to hear this.”

“Oh boy, that would be kinda funny though, don’t you think?” Hank said to Boris as he finished his beer.

“I am not certain of that,” Boris offered, and he took a sip of his dark beer from the glass that Evan had presented him with.

“Not certain of what?” Evan asked as he walked back onto the patio carrying a bowl of chips and salsa and placed it on the table in front of Hank and Boris.

“Evan, you are quite remarkable in that you are adept with numbers but are a failure with the correct names of people or places. Our Security Chief’s name is Khalil – and no, he is not a tzar as he is not even Russian, not in the least bit. Khalil is quite proud of his Arabian heritage and if you wish to garner any of Khalil’s support in your favor, you might want to consider learning his name and how to say it correctly,” Boris replied curtly.

“Yeah...right, I got that; Hank, would you like another beer?” Evan asked but was still looking at Boris.

“Yes, I would Evan, thank you; how about you, Boris?” Hank said with a smile.

“No, thank you, I am fine,” Boris said, “As you can see, Evan has also supplied me with an enormous glass of water.”

After Evan grabbed out of the outdoor chiller and opened two more beers and placed them on the table, Hank and Evan practically dove into the chips and salsa; Boris did not eat the chips and salsa.

“Oh! Are these the chips and salsa from Margarita Grille’s?” Hank asked as his face showed how happy he was at the flavors he tasted.

“Yeah, it is! I thought you’d like that seeing as how I don’t think that the two of you get down to the Main Street eateries in Southampton very often,” Evan said as he stuffed a large chip laden with a lot of salsa on it into his mouth.

“How do you manage to eat this messy food and not get any of it on your clothing, Evan?” Boris asked.

“I am adept at numbers and eating Margarita Grille’s salsa!” Evan said cheerfully and triumphantly.

“That set of accomplishments must look quite interesting on your resume...” Boris quipped.

Hank nearly choked on his bite of a chip and some salsa.

Boris slid the enormous glass of water over towards Hank, “Here...”

Hank took a large drink of water, coughed and said with a rough edge to his voice, “Must have been a jalapeño. Ahem!”

“Chicken will be done soon; the rice is ready and hot, and we have salad with this terrific cilantro ranch yogurt dressing I found at the store; uh, is that all okay for lunch?” Evan asked with eagerness.

“That sounds great, Evan,” Hank said.

Boris nodded his head and smiled slightly.

“I marinated the chicken in lime juice and then found this Mexican spice rub; it should be tasty,” Evan said evidently proud of his culinary creation.

“Have you chosen your holiday, er, vacation spot yet?” Boris asked.

“Nope, but I’ve got it narrowed down to 13 now,” Evan said as he expertly ate another chip laden with salsa. 

“Well, that’s an improvement from the gajillion you had on the list before,” Hank said with a laugh.

“Ha! Funny, Henry; so what bazillion countries are you two going to next?” Evan said snidely.

Hank looked at Boris; Boris looked at Hank and nodded.

“We’re going to Thailand in a few weeks,” Hank said proudly.

“Look at you two, talking to each other silently...you finish each other’s sentences; gees, you should just become one person, you practically are that now anyway,” Evan said teasingly.

“You have no idea,” Boris said.

Hank laughed out loud.

“DO NOT talk about that at the dining table! We’re trying to have lunch here! Gees, Bro, you are teaching Boris some really bad manners! I’m sorry for my brother, Boris, I forgot to warn you that he can be a bad influence,” Evan said loudly.

“We have been married for nearly a year and you are now just informing me of this, Evan?” Boris asked with mock sincerity.

“My bad, Boris, sorry,” Evan said as he went over to the grill and opened it. A cloud of smoke rose up and they could all smell the delicious flavors, “Let me check the temperature here...yup, chicken is done!”

Evan placed the chicken on a platter, shut off and closed the grill, placed the platter on the table, and then went into the house to get the rice and the salad.

Hank and Boris looked at the chicken with pleased expressions and nodded to each other.

Evan set everything out on the table and asked, “Am I missing anything?”

Hank and Boris spoke simultaneously, “Looks good to me!” and, “This looks marvelous.”

As they ate, Evan asked, “So tell me about this trip to Thailand.”

“I wished to take Hank somewhere special for his birthday. We own a women’s college there. I wanted for us to be there on Hank’s birthday, however, my recovery has taken somewhat longer than expected and we will be there just after his birth date,” Boris stated.

“Cool, um, so how is your arm?” Evan asked sincerely.

Boris nodded his head to Hank and Hank said, “The break has healed well, we’re just trying to build up muscle mass and strength right now in his left arm.”

Evan had another funny look on his face and was going to say something about the two of them being attached at the hip – again - but changed his mind and said, “Are you still in a lot of pain, Boris? I mean, that’s a pretty nasty kind of break. I looked it up and uh, wow, ugly, lots of damage and stuff. I’ll bet that you have one helluva scar.”

“No, I am not in pain any longer; however, if I push myself too much during physical therapy, then, ja, I am in pain. The scar would not be appropriate to view during our meal,” Boris said.

“Well, you’ve got the best doctor on the planet with you,” Evan said with a lot of pride.

“Thanks, Evan, that’s nice of you to say that,” Hank said sincerely, but he was really curious why Evan was being so normal and mature…in an Evan sort of way.

 

“You actually made flan for dessert?” Hank asked with wonder.

“Yes, yes, I did – from scratch,” Evan said proudly as he set the plate down on the table.

“This entire meal has been quite delightful, Evan, thank you,” Boris said.

“You’re welcome, Boris, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve got coffee brewing, too,” Evan said, “I know you both like coffee.”

 

“This has been a most enjoyable afternoon, Evan, thank you for your hospitality,” Boris said politely and with sincerity.

“Yeah, this has been really nice, thanks, Evan. Hey, I’ll let you know when we’ve set a date to leave; we’ll probably be gone for about a week,” Hank said sincerely.

Hank and Evan hugged; Boris and Evan shook hands.

 

~~~

 

The next day – a communication arrived…

“Really?” Hank asked.

“Ja,” Boris replied.

“They just can’t take a hint,” Hank said.

“Apparently not,” Boris said.

“Are you all right?” Hank asked.

“Ja, only...annoyed,” Boris replied.

“You know we’re going to have to address this at some point,” Hank offered.

“Ja, and that may involve us going back to Bonn as well as Dresden,” Boris stated with a clipped tone to his voice.

“Oh, boy, that won’t be fun,” Hank said.

“I agree; however, it will be nice to see Albert and Federica once again,” Boris said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, but couldn’t the two of you just stay away from the beer and stick with wine? You do better with wine. Maybe you both can drink the vodka; you also do much better with the vodka than the beer,” Hank asked.

“It is doubtful, but we can certainly try, er, I mean about the wine. Albert will not touch the vodka,” Boris replied.

“And you know, since we’d be over there, we should visit the Elders,” Hank suggested.

“Ja, that would be a very good thing to do,” Boris said in agreement.

“We’re not ready for this type of trip and the hassles that come with it, though,” Hank said sincerely.

“We are not ready, and we are not willing,” Boris offered.

“True, this is just not the right time, not one damn bit; do we have to make a decision on this now?” Hank asked.

“No, not if I have anything to say about it,” Boris said.

“Good; let’s shelf this trouble and, oh, do we have to respond to Uncle Stephan’s letter?” Hank said with curiosity.

“Technically yes, however...” Boris trailed off.

“However...” Hank prompted.

“We could always be rebellious and not respond...immediately,” Boris suggested.

“Ooh, I like the sound of that. I’m in, how about you, Tree?” Hank said with enthusiasm.

“Whatever you are ‘in’, I shall be there with you, my beloved One. Are you ready for lunch?” Boris said as he held Hank’s upper arm and squeezed it slightly.

 

~~~

 

Boris kept his promise to Hank and did not overtax himself during the strength exercises. He was bound and determined to “...pass all of the tests of range of motion, stretching, and strength...” simply to please Hank. As Boris progressed through the battery of exercises, he learned how far he could push himself to become strong, but not become injured.

Then, when Boris thought he had it all down, Hank surprised Boris with the advanced set of strength exercises that changed everything, and Boris had to rethink his progress. He did rise to the challenge and only once did he do too many push-ups that left him in pain and in need of half of a pain pill, and a full 48 hours before he could do any of the exercises again.

 

~~~

 

The next morning, the morning of Hank’s birthday, they stayed in bed just a little longer and enjoyed a slow start of their day.

Hank was awakened that morning by Boris, who sang to Hank in his deep voice the American, ‘Happy Birthday Song’.

Hank smiled and then embraced Boris fiercely; which, of course, led to some vigorous affection.

 

Hank’s head was on Boris’ shoulder as they both caught their breath afterwards. Hank asked, “What do they do in Germany for birthdays?”

Boris said, “Ah, in Germany - at least in my experience - the song is more like ‘Alles Gute zum Geburtstag’, of which the literal translation is ‘All Good for Birth Day’. Another German expression is ‘Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag’, which means ‘Heartfelt Congratulations for your Birthday’. The word for ‘congratulations’ is used because essentially you are telling someone ‘congratulations you made another year’, versus the alternative. It is also bad luck to wish someone happy birthday before the actual date, and as an adult, you would be organizing your own party. Ah, and you do not blow out the candles on the wooden birthday wreath – they stay lit all day.”

“Wow. Okay, do they do that in Russia, too?” Hank asked curiously.

Boris paused a moment and inadvertently brought his hand to his right ear to cover it protectively and quietly replied, “Er, no, they mostly pull on your ears.”

“What?” Hank said as he turned his head to look at Boris.

“Birthday parties in Russia generally take place on week ends when most people are free to attend. So, when one’s birthday falls during the week, it is celebrated the following week end and the party will last for both lunch and dinner. Russians generally do not celebrate birthdays before their date because there is a belief that the person who celebrated birthday in advance, risks not to live up to the actual birth date. It is also thought that, on the eve of the birthday, one is most weakened and vulnerable to diseases and accidents. Therefore, it is better not to ‘anger your Angels’ by celebrating in advance. Also, to celebrate a 40th birthday is considered a bad omen. According to a religious belief, on a 40th day after death, one’s soul has a judgment day and so because this number is associated with death, it is best not to celebrate that numbered birthday. However, this is mostly disregarded in modern Russia. Ah, yes, it is considered bad luck to give presents beforehand, as well. Also, in Russia, the tradition remains to pull the birthday man’s ears by the number of the completed years. When this originated from is unknown and in olden times, people used to pull the ears, of mainly boys, followed by the saying, “Grow up – Don’t be noodles”, which means that the child needs to grow up tall and strong,” Boris explained, and he moved to kiss Hank.

After the kiss, Hank said, “Okay, well, thank you for the singing the song; gees, you have a marvelous voice, Boris.”

Then Boris said, in German, with some cheer, “Many thanks, my beloved One,” And then in English, “Did you know that the American happy birthday song’s origins are from two sisters in Ken-tuck-ee who came up with the lyrics in the late 1800s?”

“No, I didn’t know that,” Hank said with a chuckle because of the history lesson and the way Boris said the word: Kentucky.

After a moment, Boris asked formally, “Would you be so kind as to allow me to take you to dinner tonight?” Boris hoped that Hank would agree as he and Udo had already arranged reservations at the Blue Hill at Stone Barns Restaurant, a special dessert, and knew that it would be less than 45 minutes in the helicopter from Shadow Pond to the restaurant’s lawn in the Pocantico Hills in upstate New York. The flight plan for the helicopter had also been filed and all they needed to do was get dressed and show up. 

Hank asked, “Are we still staying in this state and do we have to wear tuxedos?”

“Ja, and, no, but jackets and ties are required,” Boris replied.

“Well, you have kept your promise and have done really well in your exercises...” Hank said as he moved himself to sit up in bed, which moved Boris to sit up so that Hank was able to hold and look at Boris’ left arm and compare it to his right arm. With his doctor’s touch, Hank moved his fingers firmly up and down the skin on Boris’ left arm to feel the muscles and the callus underneath that had formed on the bone itself, “See how the muscle tone is starting to match? Remember now, the complete melding to this bone could take a few years, so always try to be careful with your left arm. This looks and feels really good though...and I like how the tear is healing, you’ll have a scar, but you will have minimal scar tissue there.”

Boris watched Hank examine his arms with intent and smiled slightly as he felt great love for his husband. 

Boris knew that Hank adored being a doctor, had a doctor’s heart and soul, and was simply ‘an exceptional doctor’. Boris could imagine Hank being nothing but a doctor. Boris then thought briefly about how the Garners had tried to tear Hank’s ‘heart and soul’ from him so many years ago and was relieved that his personal counsel had somewhat helped to prevent that from happening. Hank had been nearly shattered by the whole event and stubbornly fought with Boris even as Boris had offered assistance to him. But in the end, everything worked out, as sometimes life does work out. If the Garners had been successful in removing Hank’s medical license, which would have completely stripped him of his authority to practice medicine – anywhere - Boris was certain that the process would have destroyed Hank on many levels, and perhaps one of them permanently. Boris wasn’t about to lose Hank even before he had the opportunity to present himself formally and express his true intent to Hank, as well as to hopefully woo Hank into the loving relationship that Boris had planned for them.

Hank looked up at Boris at that moment, saw Boris’ smile and bright grey/blue eyes as he watched him; Hank smiled back at Boris and said happily, “You kinda like me, huh?”

“Ja...I do,” Boris said quietly and with anticipation that Hank would allow him to take them to dinner to celebrate.

“Okay, yes, I’d love to go to dinner with you tonight, Boris, thank you. I won’t ask any more questions because you probably won’t tell me more about tonight anyway,” Hank said cheerfully.

“This is true,” Boris said lightly but he was thrilled, “We shall need to be ready to go by five o’clock this afternoon. What would you like to do until then?”

“Well, breakfast for sure and then definitely a long walk in the North Wooded Area,” Hank said cheerfully, “We haven’t been there in a long while.”

“As you wish, my beloved One,” Boris said and then leaned over, placed his hand on Hank’s shoulder and kissed him lovingly.

 

Chef Henri and his team added special touches to Hank’s breakfast and lunch, which included an elegant, hand written ‘Happy Birthday, Dr. Hank’ written in a dark berry couli on his breakfast fruit plate and a miniature lemon chiffon birthday cake, with one candle for good luck, at the end of his lunch.

Throughout the day, the Shadow Pond staff who came into contact with Hank expressed heartfelt birthday wishes along with handshakes and even hugs. Maintenance Chief Gregor patted Dr. Hank on the back in his usual gruff manner and it took the wind out of Hank for a moment. The staff had created and collectively signed a beautifully artistic birthday card which was presented to Hank by Udo, with the entire staff standing behind him, at the end of Hank’s lunch, to which the happy birthday song was sung to Hank while Udo made the presentation.

Hank received happy birthday phone calls from Joanne, who was working at Hamptons Heritage that day, HankMed’s doctors Steven and Vera, then Divya, and Jeremiah who were all out caring for patients; as well as Diane and her team from New York. Hank received email birthday wishes from Frank and Catherine in New York, Albert and Federica in Bonn, and from both Pieter and then Justine in South Africa. Gio left a voicemail on Hank’s cell and he sang the happy birthday song to Hank in operatic-style Italian.

 

Evan caught up with them just after they started their walk in the North Wooded Area and joined them for the entire walk. Evan didn’t realize that the north area even had a trail through it and complained that he didn’t wear the right shoes to be walking “cross country” like they were doing. 

Evan gave Hank an envelope that held a raunchy, prostate exam-referenced birthday card in it - which actually made Hank laugh - and a generous gift certificate to the local athletic store for a new pair of running shoes. Evan did not mention that part of the gift was paid for by their father.

 

It was 4:58 pm and Boris led Hank away from the Foyer and the Entrance Door where they would usually await the three vehicle entourage.

“Uh, Boris? The cars are that way...” Hank said with some confusion and pointed behind them as they walked in the opposite direction.

“That is most likely true...” Boris trailed off as he held the West Sitting Room’s French door open for Hank and motioned for Hank to walk forward and outside.

“But...” Hank said as he stepped outside and just as their blue and white Bell 407GXP helicopter flew over the house, spun around so that entry door faced them, and landed on the lawn in front of them. 

Udo, Anton, Jacob, and Yussef were already outside on the lawn and waited by the house for the Masters and the helicopter to arrive. They all bowed slightly as Hank and Boris walked through the doorway.

The helicopter settled on the grass, and James, the Pilot, lowered its power to idle in wait for the passengers. The entry door slid open as the giant rotor blades slowed in their spinning and the air turbulence around the aircraft died down considerably.

“Really, Boris?” Hank said loudly to be heard over the still loud engine noise with a big smile.

“Really, Hank,” Boris said equally as loud with a pleased expression.

They climbed in and were followed by Udo and the others; everyone strapped in and got comfortable. Because the aircraft was designed for executive transporting and fitted with the Quiet Cruise Kit, they didn’t need to wear headphones. 

Hank couldn’t stop smiling and Boris was immensely happy about that, and this caused him to smile as well.

The door was secured, and Pilot James readied for take-off; very soon, they were flying across the countryside towards their dinner destination. 

“You never mentioned how we were going to get to dinner,” Hank said with a shake of his head, “And I didn’t think to ask you.”

“Shame on you, Hank; and now, I shall never be able to spectacularly whisk you away to an unknown distant location any longer; my secret has been revealed,” Boris said cheerfully, and he ran his fingers through his mane to tame it from being blown by the air turbulence.

“Distant? I thought we were staying in New York,” Hank asked warily.

“Just a figure of speech, Hank, that is all,” Boris said with a smug expression.

 

Dinner was unique in that the restaurant had no menu. Each evening the culinary staff offered a different multi-course feast with the best available offerings from local fields and farms as well as from its own property. 

The restaurant also offered ‘unconventional pairings’ to match the feast and that was heartily embraced by the two husbands because Hank took one look at the extremely extensive, global wine list and said, “I’m lost.” 

Boris was quite impressed with wine list and took mental notes on some of the wines as he was thinking to secure some of them for their own cellar.

The restaurant itself was an impressive series of stone buildings, which were once a dairy farm, and it was set in rolling hills covered in pastures and surrounded by herb and vegetable gardens. Service was impeccable and unhurried. 

The dining room at Blue Hill had rich wood plank flooring, a modern-farm style atmosphere with simple, heavy iron chairs and tables, and a vaulted ceiling which had impressive, yet elegant dark iron beams running across the high space. The centerpiece of the dining room was an enormous wooden drying rack which had a multitude of large herb and vegetable branches hanging from it and it was set over a long table decorated with various sized, candlelit metal and glass lanterns of many shapes.

Boris had asked the restaurant to create a special birthday dessert for Hank and the chefs incorporated raspberries (Hank’s favorite fruit) picked that morning from the Stone Barns Farm.

As they sat out on the patio of the restaurant and enjoyed a Boundary Breaks Riesling Ice Wine from the Finger Lakes region of New York, Hank received a call from Aunt Marta, Uncle Vasily and Uncle Stanislav in Russia. Aunt Marta was very sweet as always and wished him the “…most happiest of birthdays…” and she said, “When you come to visit us again, I shall have a birthday gift for you.” Uncle Vasily hoped that Hank would have as many more birthdays as Hank could possibly want or tolerate; and Uncle Stanislav said it was too bad that they weren’t all together because he really wanted to pull Hank’s ears. When Hank inadvertently put his hand to the ear that did not have the phone next to it, Boris smiled, looked away, and chuckled because he just knew that one of the three Elders had to have made a comment about that Russian birthday tradition.

On the way back to Shadow Pond at the end of the evening, per Boris’ request, Pilot James took a slightly different flight path home, and they flew past and over part of the island of Manhattan and saw the entire city lit up brilliantly against the night sky. Everyone in the helicopter, including James, enjoyed the spectacular view.

 

Now settled into bed, the two husbands faced one another; Boris listened as Hank tried to describe what his favorite parts of the day were and then he said smiling, “Forget it; this whole day has been one fantastic birthday. I feel so spoiled. Thank you, Tree.”

“You are most welcome, my beloved One, I am so very pleased that you enjoyed it...you deserve this...and so much more, surely,” Boris said sincerely as he took his long fingers and stroked Hank’s hair gently at his left temple and smiled in his slight way when he was pleased. Boris then placed his lips on Hank’s forehead and kissed him softly.

 

~~~

 

Evan was frozen in his tracks; he was both shocked and intrigued by what he saw in front of him.

 

Late that morning, Evan texted Hank to ask him where he was and when he didn’t receive an answer, Evan went to locate his brother to ask him some HankMed marketing-related questions. These questions could have waited, but when Evan was on a marketing roll, he was tenacious about it; and since there was the ‘Hank’ in HankMed, Evan had to get his brother’s permission to do anything which would have Hank’s name on it. 

Evan set off from the Guest House in search of Hank in the Main House and thought that if he ran into Boris, then Boris would know where Hank was – they were after all, in Evan’s mind, practically the same person now. Rather than go through the inside corridor, which Evan found creepy – even though it really wasn’t because it was brightly lit and had windows – he walked outside and around to the Lower Garden area which was what the windows from the pool looked out upon. Evan thought he would start there because he remembered that Boris liked to swim, and just maybe Boris was swimming that day...

 

Boris had taken up swimming again since the cast, the stitches, and the bandages had all been removed from his arm, and he delighted in being able to accomplish his usual vigorous ten laps. Boris just finished his swimming session that morning and felt invigorated; Boris invited Hank to join him in the pool after Hank had completed his run and Hank changed into his swim suit in the Pool Dressing Room and jumped into the pool to cool off. 

The two husbands had then become very playful; there was splashing, dunking, and embracing and all of that led to an epic kiss...they just couldn’t help themselves...

Their security staff had, by now, become accustomed to this new behavior of the Masters and whoever was in the Control Room, monitoring the surveillance views of the Shadow Pond property, would simply shut off the camera wherever it was that the husbands were at, erase that portion of the recording, and make a notation in the manual report during that timeframe which now always read: The Masters needed privacy.

This is what Evan saw when he walked into the Pool Room: Boris and Hank in that epic kiss/embrace standing in waist-deep water in the pool. Their arms were wrapped around each other with their heads tilted and they moved and pressed their lips together as if they were trying to consume one another.

 

Evan had seen the two men embrace before and during the first time he saw this, Evan stood there with his mouth open, gaping at them; Evan had looked completely comical. Hank and Boris had looked back at him, as they still held onto each other, with curious expressions – Boris had a tilt to his head and Hank’s eyebrows were raised - then they turned their heads at the same time to look behind them because they thought that something really interesting might have been going on behind them (or maybe something was on fire) that would cause Evan to have that expression, and when they saw nothing out of the ordinary, they turned their heads back towards Evan and waited for him to explain his behavior – which he eventually did and had seemed to develop a temporary stutter in the process. 

 

This was the first time that Evan had seen Hank and Boris in the motion of a passionate kiss and he didn’t know what to do. His feet felt like they were glued to the marble floor, but his legs wanted to run – he couldn’t leave, and he couldn’t stay.

The husbands ended their kiss, kept their foreheads together with their eyes closed, their arms wrapped around each other in a loving embrace; they both smiled fully and chuckled at the same time as they relished the feeling of being alone in the Pool Room and standing together in the warm salt water.

Hank’s right side and Boris’ left side faced Evan, so he saw them, en profile, at the same time.

Boris moved his head slightly down (which was opposite of what Evan could see), to whisper in Hank’s left ear “I love you, H-hank.”

Hank moved his head slightly up to whisper into Boris’ left ear, “I love you back, Boris,” and caught Boris’ earlobe gently with his teeth (which was what Evan could see). Hank then opened his eyes slightly and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Evan as he stood just inside the doorway of the Pool Room gawking at them.

Hank body tensed; Boris felt it and opened his eyes, he pulled his head back and began to say, “Are you all right...” And then saw that Hank now looked towards the doorway; Boris turned his head in that direction and then saw Evan standing in the doorway wide-eyed and staring at them.

“Ah,” Boris said quietly to Hank while he still looked at Evan.

“Uh, yeah,” Hank said quietly to Boris while he still looked at Evan.

Then, in the next moment, Hank thought to himself, ‘Oh, screw it,’ And he held Boris a little bit tighter, leaned his head into Boris’ cheek, and smiled at Evan.

Boris felt Hank’s embrace tighten and responded in the same way to show Hank that he was ready for whatever came next; Boris said quietly to Hank, “Well, at least he has his mouth closed this time.”

Hank chuckled and then said cheerfully with a bigger smile, “Hi Evan! How are you today?”

“Um, hi, Bro and... uh, hi, Boris; well, I was fine, but I’m not sure about that right now,” Evan said haltingly.

“Hello, Evan. Are you feeling ill?” Boris asked with sincere concern, and his amused smile, as he moved his right arm to be around Hank’s shoulders in a protective manner.

“Uh, no, I’m...not...ill.” Evan said slowly.

“Because if you are ill, I am certain that our good doctor here would be happy to take care of you,” Boris said graciously as he moved his head slightly and pressed his lips lightly against Hank's forehead. Boris’ wary eyes never left Evan’s eyes.

“Uh...” Evan said as he continued to stare at them.

“Yeah, Evan, are you sure you’re okay? I can come over there and make sure you’re all right. I think we’re done here, right Boris?” Hank said with sincerity and lifted his chin up to teasingly kiss Boris on the cheek.

“Well, I suppose we could be done if we really wanted to be done,” Boris said plainly.

Hank laughed and hugged Boris a little tighter.

“Uh, hey, no, I’m good; I don’t want to interrupt any...business...you might be...discussing...I shouldn’t have barged in on you like this...I’m sorry...I just wanted to talk about some marketing strategies for HankMed, but, gees, hahaha, that can wait...” Evan said in a rambling tone of voice and a very nervous laugh.

Just then, Udo walked into the Pool Room and saw what was going on. Udo tried to keep his smile small but found it difficult to do so. He stood there with his hands clasped in front of himself and politely asked, as he looked at Boris and Hank and then to Evan, “Lunch is nearly ready, Sirs; good afternoon, Mr. Evan, will you be joining the Masters for lunch today?”

Simultaneously: Evan said with fright, “No!” and Hank eagerly said, “Sure!” and Boris said politely, “Why certainly.”

Udo looked at Evan with a comforting smile and simply waited as Boris and Hank separated and began to walk through the water towards the ladder. Udo quickly moved to grab both of their robes and draped one robe over each shoulder, then went to stand near them as they leisurely climbed out of the pool. Boris stepped out first and Udo assisted him with his robe; Hank climbed out next and Udo assisted him with his robe. Udo then stepped aside to prepare their beverages.

Evan had never seen Boris in just his swim suit before and was amazed at how lean and strong he appeared in a ‘silver-chest-hair-super-mature-Adonis sort of way’ (Evan’s thoughts); Evan always assumed that Boris’ power was due to the ‘power suits’ he always wore, but now Evan knew he was so very completely wrong about that. A raw wave of confidence flowed outward from Boris and it made Evan swallow hard. 

The least amount of clothing that Evan had recently seen Hank in was only his form-fitting work out/running clothes, and never noticed before just how trim and muscular his brother really was, and a calm, strong wave of self-assurance also reached Evan from Hank; Evan admired Hank’s ‘six pack’, defined chest, and lightly tanned skin; and Evan almost blurted out something like, ‘Dude! How DID you get those ripped abs?’ 

Evan nervously put his hand to his own chest, knowing that it was slim and hairless, and wondered how his brother and brother-in-law had managed to corner the market on chest hair and muscles. 

The husbands didn’t close or tie their robes and just walked over in an unhurried manner to be closer to Evan who took a step backwards and backed into the door frame. Evan just couldn’t believe all of the manliness that was standing in front of him.

Hank and Boris looked at each other and smiled slightly.

Boris looked at Evan and said in a friendly tone of voice, “You are more than welcome to join us for lunch, Evan,” He waved an elegant hand over at the patio dining set that was set for two, but could have easily fit two more; Boris’ gaze was magnanimous and he said, “Your place setting can be arranged in mere moments, and I believe we are having a chilled seafood salad with field greens and a nice creamy white balsamic dressing; would you like that sort of a meal? We can always have Chef create something more to your liking, if you desire.”

“Yeah, Evan, we can talk about whatever it was that you wanted to talk about during lunch; I don’t think that Boris will mind that, will you, Boris?” Hank said generously.

“I do not mind at all; I would never get in the way of HankMed business,” Boris said kindly.

Udo came over to them and handed Boris his china cup of double espresso and he handed Hank his glass of iced water with a lemon wedge. They each took a sip and continued to look at Evan with friendly expressions and just waited.

“Uh...” Evan said and nervously rubbed his shirt.

Udo asked, “Mr. Evan, would you like an espresso or a water...or perhaps something stronger?”

“Uh, no, thanks, Udo. Um, you guys go ahead and enjoy your lunch. Again, I’m sorry I intruded...I’ve just remembered I have a call coming in soon, so I’ll take a rain check on the lunch, okay? Thank you again for the invitation, see ya later!” Evan said, looked at his wrist watch, waved, turned around, acknowledged and stepped away from the door frame – and touched it as if to make sure he wouldn’t run into it, and then walked quickly out of the Pool Room.

Hank and Boris looked at each other again, blinked, and then stepped back to sit down on the chaise lounge chairs and await delivery of their lunch.

“I’ll have to go and check on him a little bit later,” Hank said with a smile, squeezed the lemon wedge into the water, and took a long drink of his water.

“Ja, that would seem to be the prudent thing to do; should I come with you?” Boris asked, finished his espresso and then closed and tied his robe.

“Well, you can if you want to; I’m just not sure how much he’ll open up with you being there. You know how he is around you,” Hank offered as he too, closed and tied his robe.

“Hmmm, true; if I were there, he may not be completely comfortable to your discussion,” Boris said thoughtfully.

“Thank you for the offer though; you’re always so supportive of me, what a great husband you are,” Hank said sincerely.

Boris looked humbly at the marble floor for a moment, and then said, “I try...”

 

“Hello! Evan? Are you home?” Hank asked cheerfully as he knocked on the inside door from the corridor which led from the Main House.

After lunch, the husbands had showered and got dressed; Boris went to the Music Room to play his cello and Hank went to the Guest House to talk with Evan.

Hank stepped in further and repeated himself, “Hello, Evan?! Are you home?!”

Evan then came down the stairs whistling the tune, ‘Bright Side of Life’ from a Monty Python movie, and his eyebrows rose in surprise as he wasn’t expecting Hank, “Oh, hi, Henry, what’s going on?”

“I just came to check on you; am I interrupting anything?” Hank asked sincerely.

“Nope, just did some business in the bathroom,” Evan said as he crossed the living room and went into the kitchen.

“Too much information, Evan,” Hank replied as he followed Evan.

“Do you want a beer or something?” Evan asked as he stood in front of the open door of the refrigerator.

Hank chuckled quietly to himself as it was apparent that Evan still kept the refrigerator door open for longer than he should and replied, “Yeah, sure, if you’re having one.”

“Yup, sure am,” Evan said cheerfully as he handed the now opened craft brew to Hank.

“Can we talk?” Hank asked after they both took a drink from their bottles.

“Yeah, ‘bout what?” Evan asked.

“Well, you said you had some HankMed business to discuss with me and I thought we could also talk about what happened in the Pool Room a little while ago,” Hank said openly.

As Evan walked out onto the patio and Hank followed him, they both sat down on the lounger, and Evan said, “Okay, sure Bro, what do you want to talk about first?”

“Whatever is the most important on your mind; you seemed a little shocked and I’m concerned about you,” Hank said sincerely.

“Thanks, Bro, that’s very considerate. I’m fine, by the way. I’m not “ill” as Boris seems to think I am,” Evan said with a little bit of an attitude.

“He was just concerned for you; you did look a little pale,” Hank offered.

“Oh, I thought he was being sarcastic, you know, I can never tell with him,” Evan said flatly.

Hank was going to say something and just thought he should drop it; then he changed his mind and replied, “Boris does care about you, Evan, I mean, you are my brother - that makes you important - and you are a person...I told you before that he cares about people and you are people.”

“Like I said, I can never tell,” Evan replied.

“He’s a man of contrasts...” Hank started to say.

Evan interrupted him, waved his hands and made gestures with a lot of energy almost spilling his beer, “You can say that again! One moment, he’s cold and hard as, like uh, steel, with those grey daggers for eyes, and then next moment, he’s all over YOU with a ‘From Here to Eternity’-type-love-story sort of kiss...gees! How do you breathe when he’s wrapped around you like that, Henry?”

Hank closed his eyes for a moment, chuckled, and shook his head; he then looked at Evan with a fond expression as he remembered Boris’ kiss and said, “Oh, I can breathe very well, Evan.”

“It seems that you’re one helluva kisser, too, Bro, or your husband wouldn’t look so happy. Boris only seems happy when he’s around you, and I also mean, literally, AROUND you,” Evan said. 

The two brothers took drinks from their beers and said nothing for a moment.

Simultaneously: Hank asked teasingly, “Are you jealous?” and Evan said flatly, “I’m so jealous.”

They laughed and touched their beer bottles together and it made a clank sound.

“Well, you can’t have him; Boris is mine, he is ALL mine,” Hank said with a smile.

“Dude! I don’t want Boris! HE’S not my type; he’s YOUR type. Sometimes, I swear, you can be so dense for being someone who’s so smart!” Evan exclaimed.

“Tell me what’s on your mind, Evan; I’m your brother, please tell me why you’re upset,” Hank said thoughtfully.

Evan took a deep breath and then, with great energy, said, “Gees, no, I’m not upset over seeing the two of you kissing! I mean, yeah, it was a complete shock at first; just like when I first saw the two of you hug each other. But I mean, seriously, Bro, I’ve only seen you kiss women, and you have NEVER kissed any of those women like you kissed Boris! Do you guys always do that? Never mind, don’t answer that! And, I just realized, at that moment, just how really special your relationship is with him; Henry, your face was so different, HIS face was so different! And I’m not EVEN going to get into how much manly-guy-super-powers you both have! More importantly, I mean, I’ve learned that you guys really love each other, but I’ve never seen that kind of expression of what had to be real love on your face before, Henry! I want that too, but I’m not ready for all of the work that I think is probably involved with a deep relationship like what you and Boris have...I’m still having too much fun dating!”

Hank smiled at his brother and said, “Yeah, it is a lot of work, Evan, but it is SO worth every...single...moment. You can’t have it both ways. A relationship like ours is fun in a different sort of way and if you’re still having fun dating, then you probably need to continue doing that. You just have an idea now what the brass ring could be and can work towards that and make the best decisions possible for your life when you’re ready for it. Just remember that your brass ring will be different than mine, but it’s the concept I’m referring to, okay?”

“This is deep, Henry,” Evan said.

“Yeah, sometimes life is deep, Evan,” Hank replied.


	31. Ripple Effect, Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone can be affected by events that change the nature of some things, and often simple measures can create the best effects; Boris and Hank re-evaluate some decisions.

The strains of Boris’ cello music filled the air and he was quite pleased; the melodies he played filled the Main House with a pleasant, happy sound. Boris played with much enthusiasm that afternoon.

Hank smiled as he walked through the house towards the Music Room; he greeted, and was greeted by, many staff members. Hank was glad that he and Evan had talked, although they never made it to the topic of HankMed marketing strategies. Hank wasn’t worried about HankMed, they had a full patient load and they took excellent care of their patients - he felt that they didn’t need to advertise anyway. If Evan wanted to put the name of HankMed on key chains or insulated coffee sleeves, or something equally as useless, then Evan would simply have to catch up with him again.

Entering in the side door of the Music Room, Hank was as quiet as he could be; he adored watching Boris play and saw something new in the room; or so he thought, or maybe it was always there and he just never noticed it. It was a small table, set off to Boris’ right, with what looked like pages of sheet music and one of Boris’ Cartier fountain pens set on top of it. Hank shrugged it off as he thought Boris was probably writing notes to himself about some music.

Boris smiled slightly as he played because he knew Hank had entered the Music Room, even though he didn’t see him, and he continued to play the concerto for many minutes until its finale.

Hank applauded gently and said, “Bravo,” as he walked towards the center of the room where Boris was.

Boris bowed his head slightly and looked up at Hank from his chair; a long elegant hand was wrapped around the neck of the cello and the other hand held the bow upward from resting on his knee.

“That was nice, what was it?” Hank asked with a smile.

“It was ‘Serenade for Strings’ by Antonín Dvořák. Is Evan all right?” Boris asked as he stood up and gently set the cello and the bow in the stand.

“Yeah, he’s fine now; he just had a realization hit him today,” Hank said.

“Oh? I hope it was...mmm...a good one,” Boris said sincerely.

“It was; he’s actually envious of our relationship – you know, how close it is – and wants something like that for himself, but he still wants to have fun with dating,” Hank said.

“Ah, I see; well, I am certain something will eventually come his way when he is ready for it, ja?” Boris said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, and when it hits him, it is going to be so funny,” Hank said cheerfully, “Hey, what are your plans now?”

“I was thinking that I should like to sit outside and read for a while; and you?” Boris said as he looked around the room and then at Hank.

“Um, I probably have stuff on my computer to deal with, can I sit with you?” Hank asked.

Boris stepped closer to Hank and embraced him, “Of course, my beloved One.”

 

“Are you excited that we shall be leaving in two days for Thailand, Hank?” Boris asked as he climbed into their bed that evening and settled in. The lamp on Hank’s side of the bed was the only lamp on and its low light gave a soft amber glow to the immediate area around the bed and the rest of the large room was dark.

Hank had just walked out of the Closet Room and was pulling his sleep shirt down over his head; as his head popped out of the collar, he replied, “Yes, I am, actually; I just wish that it didn’t take so long to get there,” Hank stopped in the middle space between the Closet Room and their bed, put his hands on his hips and asked, “Was it your idea to stop in Istanbul on the way over to Bangkok?”

“Ja, it was. I was of the belief that a nearly twenty-hour flight would be too taxing for all of us. I knew that we would need a stop over to rest, and the Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet is a beautiful hotel; the nearby Topkapi Palace Museum is a splendid place to visit, and I wish to take you there,” Boris said plainly as he nodded his head.

As Hank climbed into bed and settled in next to Boris, he draped the blankets across them both and then placed his head on Boris’ shoulder, and said, “Do you go out of your way to choose the most exotic places to take me?”

“Well, no, it is not ‘out of my way’, Hank, to do this; and why would I not choose these fantastic places to take you to experience? As long as I am around, you shall never have to stay at another Motel Seven,” Boris said incredulously.

Hank laughed and hugged Boris a little tighter.

“What did I say now?” Boris asked plainly.

“It’s Motel Six,” Hank said with a smile.

“Ah, well...in any case...” Boris paused for a moment.

“What?” Hank asked as he turned his head to look at Boris

“Er, you do enjoy my methods of traveling, ja?” Boris said with a little trepidation in his voice.

“Oh, yes! Of course, I do! I’m sorry...” Hank said as he propped himself up with his right arm and placed his left hand on Boris’ chest at his heart and looked into Boris’ eyes, “I love the places we travel to, yes! I love how we get there, too! And...I’m very happy that you are now trying not to push too many things all at once,” Hank paused a moment and smiled at Boris, “You know, I’m just this ordinary guy who never had the opportunities that you are providing me and yeah, it’s almost been a year since we started all of this and you’d think I’d be used to it by now, but I’m not and that is really okay. I just find it all incredible and wonderful, just like you,” Hank moved himself to be in a better position to kiss Boris and as he did, Boris wrapped his arms further around Hank lovingly.

Hank pulled away slightly after the kiss, and Boris said quietly, “This is one of my dreams, Hank, to share with you my experiences and sense of wonder and together explore what is out there in the world. There is so much to encounter, and we shall run out of time before we can do it all. Until then, we shall just fill our time with whatever we can and provide for whom we can assist with the means we have created...ah, and you are not just an ‘ordin-ary guy’.”

“If we keep ourselves healthy, then we’ll have a lot of time together to do all of this,” Hank said cheerfully.

Boris turned on his right side slightly and rolled Hank onto his back so that he could further embrace and kiss Hank and then nuzzled at his neck and said, “As you wish, my love.”

“Did I ever tell you about a dream I had when I first came to take care of you last year? You know, it happened the day before we became companions?” Hank asked.

“I do not think so, what sort of dream was it?” Boris asked with curiosity.

“You and I just had breakfast together and you were so weakened that you sorta passed out at the table; Udo helped me get you back to bed; I did a blood draw on you and sent it to the lab. While I waited some awfully long four hours for the results, I took a nap on the divan and had a dream that you and I were walking down some long hallways that had lots of doors and you kept opening the doors for me,” Hank explained, “I think about now how all of these experiences you take me on are like those doors you kept opening for me in my dream.”

“That is surely intriguing; I certainly could not be doing what I am doing now in the condition that I was in then...” Boris said quietly, “I shall always be ashamed at my stubbornness during that time.”

“Gees, Boris, you were so sick; my greatest fear was that your organs were going to shut down any second...there would be nothing short of a miracle happening to bring you back from that. And, I was stubborn too, so, we share in that shame,” Hank said as he hugged Boris tighter.

They laid there quietly for a few moments, both men thinking, and then Boris’ energy and breathing changed, and Hank sensed it; Hank took his right hand and held Boris’ cheek and guided his head up so that they could look at each other. Hank saw sadness in Boris’ eyes and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Eh, I have just recalled in my mind when you saw me with my protruding ribs and how angry you were at me because you learned at that moment that I had lost too much weight and then you knew how truly ill I was; and you were well within your right as my doctor to yell at me and...” Boris said quietly.

“Shhhh, now, it’s okay; yeah, I remember that, too. I had never, ever been that angry with you, incredibly frustrated yeah, but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I finally realized how much I cared about you and finally admitted to myself that...I loved you,” Hank said with a slight smile and he bent his head forward to kiss Boris gently on his forehead.

The men looked at each other for a moment and admired each other’s faces. Boris then lowered his head back down on Hank’s shoulder, sighed deeply, and closed his eyes; Hank closed his eyes as well and stroked Boris’ hair; they both drifted off to sleep with thoughts of gratitude in their minds.

 

~~~

 

The ten hour flight from the Teterboro Private Airport in New Jersey to the Istanbul Ataturk Airport was mostly calm and only interrupted by three short periods of turbulence; but luckily, not enough turbulence to give anyone in the jet, any serious level of air sickness. The drive from the airport to the hotel in two pearl white BMW X6 SUV’s and a pearl white BMW 750 Limousine LI was only forty minutes along the Rauf Orbay and Kennedy Corridors past the costal Ateykin Kotil and Sahil Parks, down along two marinas and a ferry port filled with all manner of ships of many sizes, and finally through ‘downtown’ Istanbul itself. They also drove past no less than four mosques, three castles, and two museums before arriving at the stunningly beautiful Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet.

They were greeted by the Assistant General Manager and he apologized profusely for the General Manager’s absence – the General Manager’s wife was giving birth to twins that afternoon, and his presence was of course required at the hospital; he laughed nervously and bowed many times to Boris and Hank.

The two men were escorted by what seemed to be an army of attendants to the Executive Suite on the third floor which had large windows that overlooked a beautifully manicured courtyard. The furnishings in the Suite were of a traditional Turkish theme with intricate details and neoclassical accents all in shades of green and the artwork was by contemporary Turkish artisans. 

And, there was a large marble soaking tub.

Udo secured three deluxe suites for the rest of the entourage, one for Frank and Catherine, one for himself, Khalil and Efraim, and one for Anthony, Jacob, and Jon Michel. Those were also on the third floor although not as close to the Executive Suite as Khalil would have liked. Khalil had his team did a standard security rotation in the corridor by the husbands’ door every four hours.

They had arrived in Istanbul at five p.m. and were settled into their suites by six p.m. Everyone was worn out after the long flight, and so the hotel and Udo arranged for a private room service dinner for Boris and Hank and an in-room buffet for the entourage. Everyone was comfortably unpacked, fed, and relaxing by nine o’clock.

As the two husbands sat in the living area and enjoyed their Turkish coffee and honey cake desserts, a fresh breeze drifted in from the open French windows and the warm air smelled of jasmine flowers.

“Is there anything else that you require at this time, Sirs?” Udo asked slowly as he stood in front of them.

“Everything is marvelous, Udo, thank you, that will be all for today. Please make sure that you take time to rest yourself, we shall not begin our day early tomorrow,” Boris said as he stood up and stepped over to Udo.

Hank said happily as he stretched his arms wide, “I am sooo happy to hear that!”

“Very good; please call me when you need your breakfast delivered; Khalil has asked me to remind you to secure the windows before you retire, and have a pleasant sleep tonight,” Udo said quietly and bowed slightly.

“Good night, Udo, try and get some rest, you look quite weary,” Boris said with concern as he looked at Udo and patted him lightly on the shoulder.

“Sleep well, Udo,” Dr. Hank said as he looked up at Udo.

“Yes, Sirs, I shall,” Udo said, smiled slightly, turned and left the suite as Jon Michel secured their door behind him.

After Udo had left, Boris asked as he sat back down on the couch next to Hank, “What did you see?”

“He’s just really tired, I think. He didn’t sleep at all on the flight over; he hinted to me that his stomach was a little upset from the turbulence...” Hank said and paused a moment.

“Hank?” Boris asked.

“On second thought, Boris, I’m going to go and check on him; I don’t want to assume anything,” Hank said as he stood up, went to their bedroom and retrieved his medical bag from the closet, and then walked out of their suite.

Hank was escorted down the hallway by Jon Michel to the suite Udo was in and he knocked on the door gently. Udo opened the door and his eyebrows went up in surprise. Jon Michel returned down the hall to guard the Executive Suite.

“Hi, Udo,” Hank said.

“Hello, Dr. Hank, is everything all right?” Udo said wearily and looked behind Hank and down the hall with concern.

“Oh yeah, it’s just me, but can I come in? I’d just like to make sure that you’re okay,” Hank said with a friendly tone of voice.

“Of course, Sir, please come in, but I assure you that I am fine...just a bit tired,” Udo said as he motioned for Hank to enter.

“Hi, Khalil, Hi, Efraim, are you guys okay?” Hank asked with a smile, he waved, and he walked further into their suite.

“Yes, Dr. Hank, we’re fine,” Khalil said as he looked at Efraim who nodded his head in agreement. Then both Khalil and Efraim looked at Udo, who nodded and smiled slightly.

“Have a seat, Udo, right over here, please,” Hank said gently and motioned for them to sit down on a loveseat.

Udo sat down, and Hank sat next to him, “Now, I just want to check to make sure that you’re okay; you’re not usually this sluggish, do you mind?”

“Not at all, Dr. Hank,” Udo said graciously and watched Dr. Hank take the instruments out of his medical bag.

Dr. Hank took Udo’s temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, checked his eyes and watched the pupils dilate; Hank pressed his fingers on the glands at his neck to check for any swelling, and listened to Udo’s heart and lungs. Hank smiled at Udo and said, “Everything looks fine, all the numbers are your-normal, please tell me exactly how you feel right now.”

“Well, my stomach is no longer upset, and I feel as if I could fall quickly asleep,” Udo said honestly.

“Do you feel dizzy or weak?” Dr. Hank asked.

“No, I feel that I just need some sleep, Sir,” Udo said.

“Did you eat dinner?” Dr. Hank asked.

“Yes, I did,” Udo replied.

Hank placed his instruments back in his bag and said, “Your vitals are fine; and you are probably right, um, how long have you been awake?”

Udo looked at his wrist watch and said, “Since three a.m., New York time.”

“Oh, well, of course you’re tired. Okay, go to sleep now, you are off shift until...whenever tomorrow...we’re all resting tomorrow,” Dr. Hank said and then he looked at Khalil and Efraim and said, “You both also need to get some sleep. Lights out, guys, that includes every one of us, the doctor has spoken; pass the message on to the rest of team,” Hank stood up and picked up his bag, “I don’t think that there anything else we need to deal with, so, time for sleep.”

“Thank you, Dr. Hank, I shall be going to bed now,” Udo said, bowed slightly and stepped to his bedroom.

Khalil stood up and walked Hank to the door and said quietly, “Thank you, Dr. Hank; I’ll keep an eye on him and I know we are all secure.”

Hank smiled and nodded to him and Efraim; he pointed a finger at them both and cheerfully said, “Bed time fellas!”

Jon Michel came over to Hank as he left the suite and escorted him back down the hallway to the Executive Suite.

“Good night, Dr. Hank; is everyone okay?” Jon Michel asked quietly.

“Yeah, we’re all just tired; get some sleep soon, okay?” Hank said, “Good night, Jon Michel.”

 

Boris looked over his shoulder from where he stood by the open window in contemplation stance as Hank entered the living area and asked with concern, “Is he all right, Hank?”

“I think so, just really worn out – he’s been up since three a.m. home time,” Hank said as he placed his medical bag on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. Hank took a sip of his now cold coffee and ate a little more of his cake and then said, “These long flights just really drain us.”

Boris had already finished his coffee and half of his dessert, “Perhaps it would be better if we, in the future, limit our flights to less than eight hours. It would mean adding a day, possibly two, onto our travels, but we shall all be healthier for it, ja? I believe Udo suffers the most because he is so attentive…to all of us.”

“How long is the next flight?” Hank asked, took a final sip of his coffee and stood up from the couch; he walked over to Boris by the window.

“That flight is nine hours; we could break that flight up and make an overnight stop in, let me think, India is somewhat half way. Hmmm...New Delhi has the best airport, and The Lodhi Hotel is comfortable,” Boris’ brain was in gear as he wanted to now make the trip easier for them all; he felt deep concern for Udo’s well-being.

They embraced each other, with Hank’s back to Boris’ front, and they looked down and out over the courtyard which had pathways that were lit by flickering lanterns. The breeze had cooled, and it was refreshing as it entered the suite.

“Yeah, I think this a great idea, Tree; we don’t need to beat ourselves up while we travel; I would also suggest we add a day of rest here, so our team can actually rest and make the necessary changes...I’m sure the hotel won’t kick us out, right?” Hank mused.

Boris chuckled and kissed Hank on his hair, “No, my beloved One, we have the luxury of staying wherever we want, whenever we want, and for however long we want. It has taken years of travel and how do you say…networking, to be able to gain certain advantages,” Boris paused a moment and then continued, “Are you sure Udo is all right?”

“Yes, I am sure. I’ll watch him tomorrow and check his vitals again, just to make sure. Now, my Husband, I think it is time for us to get some shut eye,” Hank suggested, and he turned to look at Boris with a smile.

 

~~~

 

No one from the Shadow Pond group began their day any earlier than ten that next morning. They all slept soundly and were all more refreshed. 

Boris and Hank stepped out of their suite and were greeted by Jacob, who had the morning watch, and he escorted them over to the suite that Udo was in at just a little before nine a.m.; the husbands wanted to check on Udo and they were still in the pajamas, robes, and slippers. Boris knocked on the suite’s door and Khalil opened it.

“Good morning, Khalil,” Boris said.

“Good morning, Sirs, please come in!” Khalil said with surprise as he quickly waved them to enter.

Udo had just walked out of the bathroom and was adjusting his tie and his jacket.

“Hello there, everyone!” Hank said happily.

“Oh! Good morning, Masters, is everything all right? I was just coming over to check on you,” Udo said in surprise.

“Good morning, Udo, Efraim,” Boris said, and he nodded, “Ja, everything is fine, Udo, we were concerned for you and wanted to see if you had slept well. Would you mind if Hank takes your vital signs once again?”

“That would be fine, Sir, of course,” Udo said with a smile and sat down with Hank on the loveseat.

Hank said, “Well, you look a lot better than you did last night, Udo, I’ll say that much right now,” Hank said as he began the exam.

Boris stood nearby with his arms crossed in front of his chest and watched them.

After Hank did the standard tests, he said with a smile, “Everything looks good, Udo. Try to rest today and regain your strength. Nothing is happening today except...” Hank looked up at Boris and Boris nodded to him, “We’ve made some decisions to change this trip a little bit,” Hank looked at Khalil and Efraim.

“We should like to have a meeting with everyone at two o’clock to discuss the changes; we shall meet in our Suite,” Boris stated.

Khalil, Efraim, and Udo all nodded their heads in understanding; Khalil looked at Efraim and Efraim said, “I’ll go tell the others, please excuse me,” and he left the suite.

Khalil and Udo looked up at Boris and waited; after a moment, Boris said, “Hank and I have decided that these ten hour-plus flights are too strenuous and so we will be adding a day of rest here and another stopover in India to break up the next flight.”

Khalil nodded, and Udo said, “Of course, Sir, that sounds wise; would you like to do the New Delhi and Lodhi Hotel stop once again?”

“Ja, I think that would be best,” Boris said as he watched Hank stand up from the loveseat and walk towards him, “We shall talk more at two, all right? I think we should now have breakfast, ja, Hank? I know that I am in need of coffee at the moment.”

“Yup, and I’m hungry,” Hank said with a smile as he put the medical instruments back in his bag.

Udo’s eyes became large and he said with alarm, “Sir, you have not even had your coffee yet? Oh, goodness, please excuse me, I need to make a call to our concierge; I will have it all brought up immediately,” And Udo stood up, bowed slightly and walked quickly over to a desk which had a hotel phone, his travel satchel, laptop, cell phone, and portfolio on it. Udo picked up the phone and spoke politely into it. Udo couldn’t believe that his Masters had come to check on him before Dr. Hank had food and the Master had his coffee. Udo’s mind was near-frantic, ‘This is simply not proper!’

Khalil walked them to the door, bowed slightly and said, “Thank you, Sirs; this change of plans is very considerate.”

“Yeah, and healthy too; see you in a little while, Khalil,” Hank said as he walked through the doorway.

Boris and Khalil met gazes; Boris smiled slightly and nodded his head.

 

Boris and Hank had called the hotel manager on duty (and on their own) and asked that beverages and snacks be brought up to their Suite just before two p.m.; there was a bit of lively commotion out in the hallway as the service staff person innocently rolled the cart to their Suite to deliver the snacks and beverages and the Shadow Pond entourage converged in the hallway to go the Suite for the meeting. Udo said that he hadn’t ordered anything for the two men, noticed there was a lot on the cart, was confused and a bit alarmed; Khalil and his team went somewhat on high alert. 

Boris had heard the sound of the cart coming out of the elevator and Hank rushed to open the door to the Suite and found everyone in the hallway. Hank explained everything and charmed everyone to calm down; he assured the service person that everything was just fine, apologized for the confusion, had him bring the service cart into their suite - under the intense scrutiny of Khalil and his team. Hank thanked him with a genuine smile and sent him on his way. Boris welcomed them and asked them to be seated and to get comfortable as he and Hank proceeded to pour tea and serve their guests the snacks.

Udo asked Boris and Hank, “May I assist with serving, Sirs?”

Boris and Hank said simultaneously, “No.”

Since they had decided to add a day in Istanbul, and a full day/overnight stopover with no side excursions in New Delhi, many details needed to be discussed. Additional reservations for lodging and transportation needed to be made and Captain Frank prepared a new flight plan. Udo and Khalil together worked on this during the remainder of that day.

The hotel was extremely pleased that the group had added a day to their stay and was overly generous with food and beverages for the entire group. A large bouquet of fresh flowers was delivered to each of the four suites.

The remainder of the day was quiet and restful for all; and Udo and Khalil were very pleased when they were able to announce that they had completed the arrangements for the change of plans; Boris and Hank took a walk in the courtyard before their dinner at the outdoor Seasons Restaurant and strolled around the hotel as there was a great amount of beautiful decor and architecture to admire. 

From the rooftop A’ya Lounge, where they enjoyed late evening coffee, the enormous Blue Mosque could be seen; the Mosque was lit up at night and made for an impressive image against a clear, star-studded black sky. The stunning Hagia Sophia could be seen in the opposite direction and it too, was lit up brilliantly.

They talked about their excursion planned for the next day - which was supposed to be the Topkapi Museum - and Boris became excited because he recalled that within walking distance of the hotel, there were two tombs, three fountains, a bazaar, nearly a dozen mosques and museums, an obelisk, and four parks; Hank had to rein Boris in a bit...

“The Hagia Sophia was built in 537 AD of mostly brick and finely cut ashlar - the workmanship is stunning, by the way - and throughout its 1,480 year history, it has been a cathedral for the Christian, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox religions; it became a museum in 1935 and it is the most visited site in all of Turkey,” Boris stated, “One does not come to Istanbul and not go to the Hagia Sophia, Hank.”

“But I thought we were going to go to the Topkapi Museum?” Hank asked with the full knowledge of what Boris was going to say next.

Simultaneously, after a moment: Boris said with enthusiasm, “We can visit both!” and Hank said dryly, “You want us to go to both.”

“Ja, of course, they are, er, just down the street from one another,” Boris added plainly.

“Boris! You have to choose one place for us to go and visit, just one!” Hank exclaimed.

“What do you mean only one?” Boris asked with annoyance.

“Yes, just one!” Hank replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice and with his own degree of annoyance, “I say this because I want some leisurely bath time in the morning with you and then after lunch we can walk and spend the entire afternoon to go and visit ONE place; then dinner downstairs in the hotel’s restaurant, and then a good night’s sleep.”

“Oh...well, I suppose that plan will be quite acceptable,” Boris said with a reluctant tone of voice.

“You’re damn right it is acceptable,” Hank retorted, and he was quiet and brooding as they walked back up to their Suite.

 

Hank had just finished brushing his teeth and laid his rinsed toothbrush down on the vanity. Hank was dressed in his sleep shirt and pants and Boris stepped up behind Hank while he stood at his sink in the bath room. 

Boris only wore his silk pajama trousers at that moment; he had stopped before he put his shirt on because Boris suddenly felt the need to apologize to Hank immediately and he walked quickly back into the bath room and left his pajama shirt draped across a chair. Boris moved tentatively as he wasn’t sure if Hank would allow an embrace. 

Hank did allow the embrace and held Boris’ arms which were crossed in front of him as they looked at their reflections in the mirror.

Boris asked quietly, “Are you angry with me?”

Hank took a deep breath and replied, “I was a little…frustrated, but I’m okay now.”

“I did it again, ja?” Boris admitted in his deep voice.

“It always has to be more with you; you can’t seem to leave well-enough alone. It’s like you have a personal aversion to settling – even when it’s perfectly, uh, perfect, or that a first choice isn’t good enough...or something like that,” Hank said.

“Ja, I do, er, it is...or something like that,” Boris repeated sincerely, looked down slightly and then offered, “I become overly enthusiastic about...things relating to history and I forget about other things...I apologize for my behavior, Hank.”

“Thank you, Boris, I appreciate that you recognize that,” Hank replied and moved to turn around within Boris’ embrace. He looked up at Boris and studied his face for a moment. Boris arms were wrapped around Hank and Hank’s arms were bent upward against Boris’ torso, his palms flat against Boris’ bare upper chest. Hank’s fingers moved lightly through Boris’ chest hair.

“Your plan for tomorrow is perfect,” Boris said with a softer expression and a worried look in his eyes.

“I appreciate that you recognize that, too,” Hank said firmly, “I mean, really, doesn’t that tub just scream ‘us’?”

They looked over at the giant marble tub and Boris said, “Ja, it does; and I am nearly certain that the tub wasn’t here when this building was a Turkish prison over 100 years ago.”

Hank started to laugh and lightly pounded Boris’ chest with one fist and then put his forehead on Boris’ bare shoulder and said, “Oh, what am I going to do with you, Tree? Don’t answer that, I know what you were going to say!”

“Just think of how uninteresting your life would be if you did not have me in it with you?” Boris mused.

Hank chuckled and lifted his chin, so he could kiss Boris on the side of his neck. Hank continued to run his fingers lightly through Boris’ ample silver chest hair.

Boris was still a little tentative and held Hank gently; but then Hank reached up and held Boris’ face, with both hands, and drew his head downward into a deep kiss. Boris strengthened his embrace and inadvertently pushed himself against Hank who was wedged between Boris and the vanity. Boris felt the familiar and delightful stirring that occurred whenever Hank kissed him in that way and it began to show; Boris pulled away slightly as he didn’t want Hank to think he was completely uncouth; after all, Boris knew that Hank had just been upset with him for his selfish behavior.

Hank moved his right hand down to the small of Boris’ back and pushed Boris against him, so he could feel Boris’ growing firmness again and said, “Don’t hide that from me.”

“I...” Boris began.

“Don’t say anything right now,” Hank said as he strengthened his kiss and pushed his lower body against Boris.

Boris could now feel Hank’s own firmness and he wanted to say that he loved Hank, and how much he loved him, and that he wanted to please Hank in any way possible. Boris reached out and turned the light switch off and was grateful for the darkness; only a single lamp in the bed room was on and cast barely enough light into the bath room, but that light was just enough. Boris’ body began to beg for connection; his mind was most pleasantly filled with adoration for his understanding husband.

Hank too, wanted to take what was happening one step further and he almost couldn’t think of anything else, but he also wanted to feel that intense ache of control over his body. He knew that he was probably driving Boris nuts by drawing the moments out, and he felt bad about that, but guessed that Boris might just be enjoying the ache as well. A moment more passed, and Hank moved to make Boris follow him to their bed. Hank stripped off his sleep shirt and threw it over the corner of the bed. He turned quickly and wrapped Boris in another embrace, and both men could feel their eagerness; Boris moaned and whispered, “Please, H-hank.”

 

So, Hank’s sleep shirt was on the bed, Boris’ pajama shirt was draped over the chair nearest to the bath room, and their trousers ended up on the floor on opposite sides of the bed because that’s where the clothing landed when they were nearly stripped off their bodies. The two men laughed, as they sometimes did, because the trousers usually got stuck or wrapped around the parts of their bodies that apparently had minds of their own and preferred to be slightly perpendicular from the other lines of their bodies.

 

Soon...there was only one sound to be heard in the semi-darkened room: deep breathing. There also appeared to be only one person moving rhythmically under the blankets on the large bed, but there indeed were two, they were just as close as two people could possibly be.

 

~~~

 

“Hmmm, this tangerine juice is simply delightful,” Boris said as he savored the dense sweetness of the citrus juice.

“How come we don’t have this at home?” Hank asked.

“We should ask Chef Henri when we get back, ja?” Boris mused.

“Yes!” Hank said as he leaned back against the front of Boris’ body.

The husbands lounged in the soaking tub and enjoyed the warm water and the soothing sandalwood essential oil that scented the bath water.

“All right, so do you have preference on where we visit today?” Hank asked.

“No, I do not,” Boris said honestly as the heated bath had made him feel very calm.

Hank thought to himself, ‘Good, this fits perfectly into my plan,’ but what Hank said was, “Okay, then I think we should go to the Hagia Sophia.”

“Excellent choice, my beloved One,” Boris said smoothly as he was relaxed and had closed his eyes. Boris still held onto his juice glass and brought it back to his lips for another sip; he was so very comfortable, and he was agreeable to anything Hank would have wanted. 

 

After a brief two block stroll down Adliye Sk., Boris and Hank enjoyed a light lunch at the Cafe Rumist, a quiet and cozy eatery that served traditional Turkish fare; they were shadowed by Udo, Khalil, Anthony, Jacob and Efraim. The day was bright and warm, but not uncomfortably warm.

Next, Boris and Hank and their entourage walked down the streets of Akbiyik and Ishak Pasha past the Sultan Ahmet III Fountain and they entered the famed Hagia Sophia Museum. They spent the afternoon being surrounded by, and gazed at, the intricate, thousand-year-old-plus mosaics of every color and pattern; they admired the finely crafted architectural details, and then visited the Prince and the Sultan III Mehmet Tombs. 

Towards the late afternoon, Hank said to Boris, “I read that there is another building over here that we should see,” And he pointed to the northeast.

“Ah, that is the Carpet Museum, Hank; it is not part of the Hagia Sophia Museum complex, so this qualifies as visiting two places today and I thought that was not allowed,” Boris gently reminded him.

“Yeah, okay, you might be right about that, but do you mind? I really like Oriental rugs and I’ll bet there are some beautiful ones to see inside the museum,” Hank suggested.

Boris didn’t think anything of this as Hank had openly admired the Persian and Oriental rugs which were in the Library, the Main Living Room, the West Sitting Room, and the Music Room at Shadow Pond and happily walked with Hank to the rug museum. Boris thought briefly that Hank might be becoming more interested of historical places and felt intrigued by this thought.

The entourage walked the short distance across the complex and after they spent some time admiring the ancient rug art, Hank suggested that they go into the museum’s store where they actually sold antique rugs.

Udo and Hank glanced at each other and nodded quickly; Udo stepped away for a moment to speak with the store’s Proprietor and confirmed with him the pre-arranged details that Hank had requested. Udo handled the $28,000 payment that had been negotiated, and all the husbands needed to do was to choose their rug. Hank was excited that Boris still did not know what was really going on and tried to keep it from showing.

The two men viewed many rugs and listened with interest as Mr. Barish, their ‘pre-assigned rug assistant’, explained the many styles and the histories of several antique tribal, Turkish Oushak rugs that they saw that day. They walked into another enormous five-sided room with a vaulted ceiling and in the center of the large room, on top of a pile of extra-large rugs, was a rug that made both Boris and Hank hold their breaths and say at the same time with awe, “That one.”

This rug was so beautiful that even if a shaft of sunlight wasn’t illuminating it from a high window above, it would have caught anyone’s eye...even if they had eye trouble. The rug was very large at 13 feet by 15 feet with elaborate arabesque patterns of ivory, gold, black, and Gentian Blue and it had been created in the 19th century by rug artisans in Istanbul.

“Good lord, Hank, this is beyond spectacular!” Boris exclaimed in a rare moment of openly expressed joy.

Hank said quietly to Boris as they both gazed admiringly at the rug, “Do you know where this would be perfect?”

Boris had crouched down and moved his elegant hand back and forth across the soft surface of the rug; he looked up at Hank and asked with interest, “Where?” 

Hank replied, “In our bedroom, under and around our bed...can you imagine, Boris, especially in the winter time? We would get out of bed and the first thing our bare feet would touch would be this rug?”

Boris straightened to stand up and looked at Hank with a smile.

“I really like this rug, Boris; do you?” Hank asked.

“Ja, I do,” Boris said.

Hank looked over at Mr. Barish and said, “This is the one, Mr. Barish, thank you.”

Boris looked from Hank to Mr. Barish, who was smiling even more than he was the moment before, and then back to Hank; he glanced over to Udo, who was also smiling, and then back to Hank again and asked, “Hank, what is happening here?”

Hank stepped closer to Boris, looked up at him, and with a big smile and shining blue eyes said, “Happy Birthday, Boris.”

Boris tilted his head and studied Hank’s face as a small smile of understanding tugged at his lips, “I beg your pardon?”

Hank chuckled and said, “I wanted to get you something really, really special for your birthday, and well, I kinda planned for us to come here and go shopping, no matter what we did today. I wanted us both to fall in love with the same rug, whichever one it was going to be. I know how chilled you get in the winter time, so I thought this would be that something special to remember this trip by and to also help keep my Boris warm in the winter.”

Boris smiled fully at Hank and his eyes became a bright silver-grey/blue; after a moment, he found his voice and said quietly, “This is so kind of you, my beloved One...thank you...” Boris looked aside for a moment and then back at Hank, “When we are in a more private setting, I shall properly show you my gratitude, ja?”

Hank smiled and said, “Of course, I understand. Now, based on what you told me about German and Russian birthday traditions, I hope that I won’t get in trouble for giving you a birthday gift before your actual birth date.”

Boris, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Hank, said shyly, “Er, well, those are old traditions and, well, you and I...I think we are making our own traditions...now.”

“Good!” Hank said happily, “Come on, let’s break out the Imperia and celebrate, okay?”

Somewhat still stunned, Boris replied, “Ja, of course, this is truly marvelous, Hank.”

 

Back in their Suite, after Boris gave Hank a tremendous - and epic - embrace and kiss, Hank poured them each a glass of ice cold Imperia to toast the new rug. 

Because Turkey was generally a non-alcohol country, and many hotels – even five-star hotels - did not have liquor licenses, plus the fact that it was insanely, and unreasonably, expensive to get any types of wines and liquors that Boris and Hank would have generally enjoyed, they brought their own supply of the Grahams Port Wine, Chateau Calon Segur Bordeaux, Elegante Wyn Chenin Blanc, and Russian Standard Imperia Vodka. Both men also were not fond of anise and so the local, grape-based, anise flavored Turkish Raki, the only pseudo-alcoholic beverage locally available, was something they were not interested in drinking or toasting with. 

They sat in the Living Room with the French windows wide open and enjoyed the entering breeze which was starting to cool down; it was near to sunset and they waited for their dinner to be delivered. Hank was the one who wanted a private dinner that evening and took Udo aside to make the request as well as to thank him for his help – especially with the rug purchase.

 

Udo had said, “I have arranged for the rug to be brought to the airport in two days so that it can be loaded onto the jet. I did this because they said it would take nearly a month for it to go through normal shipping channels and I did not think that either of you would appreciate that.”

Hank had replied, “Thanks, Udo; that was a smart thing to do. Boris will really enjoy having it set up in our Apartment just after we get home.”

Udo had then said, “The Master was quite surprised at this event, Dr. Hank, you were right. He looks very...happy.”

Hank smiled widely and then replied, “Yeah, he does and that makes me happy.”

 

As Hank brought the glasses to where they were sitting, he said, “Here you go, nice and cold.”

Hank sat down, and they raised their glasses; Boris said will all sincerity, “To the love of my life and his thoughtfulness.”

Hank happily said, “And to warm feet in the winter!”

 

Dinner was a shared Turkish Mezze Plate and Spinach Salad with Semi-Dried Pear and Circassian Cheese, Duck and Porcini Mushroom Puff Pastries and Casarecce Beef Ribs with Swiss Chard and Caramelized Quince, and finally, a dessert of Turkish Caramelized Milk Pudding with Black Mulberry Sorbet and Turkish Coffee.

The husbands lounged on the couch after they thanked their team and released them from the duty for the day; they changed into sleeping clothes and each enjoyed a glass of port. Boris leaned against the corner of the couch and Hank lounged against him; their slippers were on the floor and aside of the coffee table, Boris feet were on the cream Berber carpet and Hank’s feet were up on the coffee table as they leaned back on the couch together and at one point, Boris began to softly hum a tune.

After listening for a few moments until Boris stopped and took a sip of his port, Hank asked, “Where is that tune from?”

Boris said in a veiled tone as he didn’t really want Hank to know any details just yet, “Ah, well...mmm...some obscure and extremely minor modern composer of European descent.”

Hank said, “It’s nice...the music sounds strong and kinda playful, all at the same time.”

Boris just smiled, kissed Hank on his hair and changed the subject, “You know, Hank, I keep thinking about that spectacular rug.”

“I’m sooo glad that you like it and were surprised; I was worried that you’d find out about my plan,” Hank said.

“So clever you are, my beloved One,” Boris said quietly and thought about how surprised Hank might be when he would learn more about the tune that Boris had hummed...

 

~~~

 

Two days later, the rug was delivered to the airport and loaded onto the jet without any delays or issues. Mr. Barish saw to it that the rug was properly rolled up and covered in a thick cotton cloth with cords wrapped around it in two-foot intervals. Boris and Hank watched the rug as it was loaded into the cargo hold of their jet and it took five men to do that because of how long and how heavy the rug was. 

Hank said to Boris, “We are taking home a piece of history as well as a piece of art.”

Boris said to Hank, “And it shall be revered and appreciated every single day.”

 

The flight to New Delhi, India, took only six hours; the ten-mile drive from the Indira Gandhi International Airport to the Lodhi New Delhi Hotel took a little over an hour because of traffic. Heavy, chaotic, and erratic traffic was standard and normal in New Delhi. Khalil and Udo had arranged for the Hotel to send a large, modern, air-conditioned shuttle bus, with a local professional/pre-screened driver, to retrieve all of them and their luggage because to drive the streets of New Delhi, as Udo stated, “...would have most likely placed some of us in Hospital due to the frightful nature of the congested roadways.”

Hank had never seen such disorganized, intense, and dangerous driving and he was accustomed to the traffic in New York City. Hank made the near-frantic comment that he would never complain about New York City traffic ever again. He worried that something was going to happen to all of them and watched in horror as vehicles of all sizes careened around other vehicles of all sizes, as well as animals both large and small – but mostly large, rickety overloaded carts, rusting bicycles and scooters, rotting trash, and oblivious pedestrians; and he felt certain that someone had been run over by their bus even though Boris tried to assure him that it was most likely something else and that their driver was an expert. Hank was the most unnerved out of the group and by the time they were settled in their Verandah Pool Suite, he had a ‘splitting headache’, had to take an ibuprofen, close his eyes, and lie down for a while “…somewhere dark and quiet”. Boris and Udo made certain that Hank was comfortable on the bed, drew the blinds, and closed the door of the bedroom to minimize any sound.

It was four p.m. local time and since they would be leaving late the next morning for Bangkok, no excursions were planned, and the rest of the entourage settled into the three Junior Suites for the evening.

“Master, do you still wish to have dinner downstairs in the Elan Restaurant?” Udo asked quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping Dr. Hank.

“I am not certain now if that would be appropriate, Udo, due to Hank’s discomfort; let us wait until he awakens, ja?” Boris said as he stared down at the still water in the Suite’s private plunge pool. 

“Indeed; may I prepare you some coffee?” Udo asked.

“Ah, thank you, Udo, that would be nice...I will take it out on the patio,” Boris replied somewhat distractedly as he worried about Hank and then walked out onto the patio and sat down on a cushioned chair.

A few minutes later, Udo brought Boris his coffee, and said that there was more being kept hot in the kitchenette and that he had taken out another cup and saucer and set them next to the coffee pot in case Dr. Hank also wanted some when he awoke. Udo could see that Boris was pensive now and reminded his Master quietly that he would be in his room if either of them needed him. Boris nodded and continued to stare at a flowering hibiscus shrub on the patio. Udo bowed slightly, turned, left, secured the Suite, and walked to the suite that he shared with Khalil and Jacob to rest as well.

Boris sat out on the patio for a while; it was warm – which felt good to him, and it was shaded; there were little birds that flew in and out of the large shrub in a busy fashion; and watching the birds provided a minor distraction for him. He finished his coffee and after three-quarters of an hour, he decided to get more, and check on Hank. He walked to the kitchenette and placed the cup and saucer on the counter and then went into the bedroom.

It was dark in the bedroom and much cooler than outside and Boris saw that Hank was still asleep and now curled up on his right side. Boris stood there for a few moments in contemplation stance and looked down at Hank; he wondered if there was something he could do to help his husband feel better. Just as Boris began to turn away, Hank opened his eyes and looked up to see Boris. 

Boris smiled slightly, tilted his head and then stepped over and knelt on the floor next to the bed; he stroked Hank’s hair gently said quietly, “Hello, my beloved One, is there something that I may do for you?”

Hank smiled and said, “Hi, Handsome; no, I feel better now; I think I’d like to get up.”

Boris leaned over and kissed Hank’s forehead and said, “Udo has made some very nice coffee for us.”

As Hank sat up, Boris sat back on his heels and looked up at Hank who stretched his arms and ran his hands through his hair and said, “That sounds good; uh, is there a nice place for us to sit together here? My head hurt so bad when we got here that I almost couldn’t see. I really don’t know what’s here in our suite.”

“Ja, there is a patio, but it is a little warm out there, perhaps too warm for you; eh, the living space has a splendid sunken lounge area to sit in. Perhaps later, you may feel up to soaking with me in the plunge pool,” Boris offered.

“Really? This suite has a plunge pool? That’s cool, what else did I miss?” Hank asked as he stood up.

“Nothing else; for dinner, we can either go downstairs to the restaurant or have service brought here; I told Udo that we should wait to see how you felt,” Boris said as he stood up.

The husbands embraced, and Boris looked with concern at Hank and placed his hand gently on Hank’s neck and jaw.

“I’m fine now, really, Tree, my headache is gone...I really need some water right now and coffee after that,” Hank said with a smile.

“Come. Please allow me to take care of your needs,” Boris said lovingly as they walked out in the main area of the suite and into the fully stocked kitchenette.

Boris prepared Hank a glass of water with ice and was pleased to find a lemon to cut into wedges for him. Hank leaned against the counter and watched Boris; “Here you are,” Boris said as he handed Hank the glass.

Hank squeezed two lemon wedges into his water and drank it down quickly, “Aaah! That was great, I really needed this; thanks.”

Boris then poured two cups of coffee and they stood for a moment, leaning against the counters in the kitchenette and enjoyed sipping from the cups as they looked at each other; “I know that we are only here for overnight, however, would you like a tour of our suite?” Boris asked.

Hank smiled and said, “Yes, please!” And he followed Boris out into the living space.

The Hotel’s ultra-modern decor in the public spaces was continued into the suites and so the 2,700 square foot suite had a clean, austere feeling with many sharp angles and uncluttered areas devoid of even artwork. Boris led Hank around the suite and showed him the many amenities available, including the plunge pool.

“I have stayed in the other suites here, and although the overall decor of the hotel is a bit too sterile to me, it is somewhat cleansing I suppose; I asked Udo to secure this suite for us because I felt you would greatly appreciate the plunge pool. We were fortunate that it was available on such short notice,” Boris said as they sat down in the sunken lounge area.

“That’s really nice of you, Boris; yeah, that would be great for us later tonight,” Hank said, “Um, are you okay?”

“Ja, I am fine, I am just concerned for you; they have a Cigar Lounge downstairs as well; if you are interested...” Boris trailed off.

Hank moved slightly on the couch to face Boris and asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Boris looked down into his coffee cup and after a moment he replied, “Well, in the past, my past, I was accustomed to always pushing forward towards whatever goal or plan I had set for myself. If I met with...issues...I ignored them or, should I say, simply suffered through them. However, now...”

“What issues?” Hank asked.

“Hmmm...egregious troubles, less than desirable situations...things of that nature,” Boris admitted quietly.

“Oh, I see...I think,” Hank said, “However...” He prompted.

“However, now that you are with me, and when something, or something I do, makes you feel less than...optimum...I question why I drag you along with me. I assume that you will take it all in stride. But I am wrong to do this – I apologize; I should not expect you to ignore or suffer through something simply because...” Boris trailed off as he was at a slight loss for words.

“Boris, let me try to understand what you are saying here; do you feel bad because I got upset on the bus ride and developed a minor migraine because of the tension?” Hank asked. 

Boris put his coffee cup down on the low table in front of them of them, “I feel responsible for your discomfort, ja. I did not warn you properly about the pandemonium of this particular place, and that is what caused your head to ache.”

Hank put his cup down next to Boris’, wrapped his left arm around Boris’ shoulders and placed his right hand on Boris’ thigh and said, “Please don’t feel bad about anything, okay? Sometimes, things just happen, that’s all. I’m still getting used to this big crazy world we live in and I could have done a better job of not letting myself get worked up over the drive. It’s not that big of a deal, really. I’m fine now. We are together, remember? We can get through everything, together.”

Boris nodded his head and looked down at his wedding ring; he kept his head bowed down and sat hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him.

Hank was charmed by his husband’s concern and put his left cheek against Boris’ right shoulder and they stayed that way for many moments. He then asked, “Do you want to go to the restaurant for dinner?”

“It matters most to me what you desire, Hank,” Boris said as he turned his head to the right and looked at Hank sideways.

Hank lifted his head slightly, closed his eyes, and kissed Boris slowly on the cheek; his lips lingered there for a moment longer and he said quietly, “I love you, Boris.”

Boris closed his eyes and leaned his head a little further into Hank’s lips and said equally as quiet, “I love you back, Hank.”

They leaned against each other and enjoyed the closeness and the peacefulness of the moment and they could hear, from outside through the open slider door which led out onto the patio, the little birds as they fluttered and sang; Boris heard Udo step into the suite and walk around and knew that he was looking for them. 

Boris lifted his head and said pleasantly, “Hello, Udo.”

Hank smiled as he had only heard the birds singing.

“Hello Master...oh! Dr. Hank, you are awake! Splendid, do you feel better, Sir?” Udo asked eagerly as he entered the living space.

“Oh, boy, I feel so much better, Udo!” Hank said with enthusiasm as he pulled away from Boris slightly and they both looked up at Udo.

“It has been a while since you both ate a proper meal; would you like to have your dinner arranged now?” Udo calmly asked as he stood above them on the upper part of the lounge area with his hands clasped together in front of him.

“Yes, I think that’s a great idea. What’s the restaurant like downstairs?” Hank asked.

“Elan is an informal restaurant and there is a nice courtyard to take a meal, Dr. Hank; the menu leans towards Indian, Mediterranean and Southeast Asian dishes,” Udo replied.

Hank looked at Boris and their eyes met for a moment; Hank knew that Boris would be fine with whatever he chose, “Let’s wash up and have dinner there, okay?”

Boris nodded and said without hesitation, “Ja; that would be nice.”

Udo said with a slight bow, “I shall prepare your escort, would 30 minutes be sufficient?”

Hank said, “Yup! That’s great; we’ll be ready,” And he squeezed Boris’ thigh with his hand.

Udo turned around and left the suite; the two men looked at each other and then stood up and walked to the bath room to freshen up.

 

After a “simply splendid” (Boris’ words) dinner, which revived them both, they returned to their Suite to relax the rest of the evening away. Hank was very happy that Boris seemed to have climbed out of his ‘blue funk’ and Hank’s outward happiness had helped; Hank was also happy that his migraine had vanished. They thanked their team and dismissed them for the night; the Masters were assured that all was in readiness for the next day as they would be returning to the jet after breakfast to fly to Bangkok. Hank idly wondered to himself how he could keep calm during the drive back to airport.

 

“Oh, Bor...ris! I bet you can’t guess…where I am!” Hank said loudly and cheerfully in a sing-song voice.

Boris had just stepped out of the bath room and upon hearing this he walked immediately to the plunge pool. He saw a trail of Hank’s clothes draped on furniture along the way and then stood there with his arms across his chest, smiled, and looked down at Hank who was leisurely moving around in the water.

“Ah...my naked husband in a pool; why did I even bother to eat dessert? I see my dessert right in front of me here,” Boris said playfully, “Would you like a glass of port, my beloved One?”

“That’s sounds great! Are you going to join me in the water?” Hank asked.

“That question is like asking the sun if it shall rise tomorrow,” Boris stated as he walked over to the travel trunk which held their liquor and wine. He retrieved the port wine and then opened the other travel trunk which held glasses and Boris’ cigar supplies to choose two glasses for them.

Boris poured two glasses of port and made a comment that he wasn’t certain that the glasses he found were going to do the port any justice; he preferred delicate snifters for port as opposed to sturdier/better-for-traveling crystal rocks glasses. He placed them on a ledge at the pool and undressed; after he laid his clothes in a much neater arrangement on the back of a chair than what Hank had done, Boris stepped slowly down into the pool was immediately embraced by Hank. They wrapped their arms around each other in a firm embrace; the pool water came up the middle of Hank’s chest.

“This is quite marvelous,” Boris said into Hank’s wet hair, “The water feels warmer than when I felt it before; this must be because of your body heat.”

“No, silly, I turned up the temperature because I knew you would like it warmer,” Hank said as he pulled away and reached for the glasses, “Uh oh, we’re in trouble.”

“Why?” Boris asked but appeared to not be worried and looked around the living space from where he stood in the pool; he lowered himself briefly down into the salt water, wetting his hair.

“Standard rule is no glass in a pool,” Hank said as he handed Boris his glass and they sat on an underwater ledge.

“Ah, well, we are ‘playing in the snow’, then,” Boris chuckled and held up his glass as if to toast their mischievous behavior.

“Bad boys!” Hank said happily, and they touched glasses.

After taking a sip, Boris said, “Huh, this glass is not so bad.”

Hank loved the way Boris said the word: glahss.

The warm water and the port wine helped the two men release any remaining tension left from the day. Many quiet and pleasant minutes passed...

Hank then said, as he sat on a reclined ledge behind Boris and held Boris close, “I should have put on some romantic music.”

Boris chuckled, leaned further back against Hank and enjoyed feeling Hank’s muscular chest against his back; “I believe we make romance with or without music, ja?”

Hank smiled, turned his head, nuzzled and kissed Boris behind his right ear; as he turned his head back, the lighting was just right, and he saw something faintly on Boris’ scalp because he had moved Boris’ wet hair aside slightly with his nose; “What’s that? It looks like a scar,” Hank quickly placed his glass on a ledge to the side of where they sat.

“Ah, ja, it is,” Boris replied plainly, and he placed his now empty glass next to Hank’s glass.

Hank lifted his other hand out of the water and moved Boris’ long silver hair aside further to see it better; Boris tilted his head slightly downward the opposite way, so Hank could see it better; Hank went into doctor mode and traced the three-inch long scar gently with his fingertips, “I’ve never noticed that before; it’s definitely not recent; what happened?”

“I was grazed by a bullet,” Boris said plainly.

“What?!” Hank exclaimed and tensed his body.

“Please relax, my beloved One, it was many, many years ago,” Boris replied; he almost said, ‘It was only a flesh wound’, but didn’t because he imagined that comment wouldn’t make Hank feel any less distraught.

Hank took a deep breath and said, “Ok, I’m not in a panic, it’s just that if you were less than a half of an inch more in one direction, that bullet would have probably killed you!” Hank laid his fingertips gently along the scar as if to heal it.

“Ja, I know, I was very fortunate. I bled copiously though – they told me head wounds do that sort of thing - and the bleeding ruined a very fine, dark grey Giorgio Armani suit and shirt and one of my favorite custom-made, purple Japanese silk ties...you would have enjoyed seeing me in that ensemble,” Boris said plainly.

“I just don’t believe you sometimes,” Hank said, and he kissed the scar tenderly.

“That was not the half of it, poor Udo, Khalil and the others I was with when it happened, well, they were beside themselves with anguish and it was quite impossible for me to assure them that I was fine. I assume that was because of I was bleeding all over myself... it did hurt a great deal. As you know, I am not pleasant to be around when my head is in pain,” Boris said.

“First of all, you were not fine, so their anguish was completely valid. Secondly, you are not as bad as you think you are, and I can imagine how Udo and Khalil reacted. Would you please tell me what happened? I’m curious...no, first, tell me that you had good medical care, at least,” Hank asked.

Boris said, “Well, my medical care was not so much at first; our priority was that we all had to get out to safety. We made it back to the jet and Udo and Khalil insisted that I lie down, er, especially after I almost fell down…I became quite light-headed; many towels were also sacrificed until we got to Chiang Mai, which was an hour’s flight away but well away from any danger. Captain Dennis, who was my pilot back then, radioed to the airport for a doctor to come to the plane immediately after we landed there. I do not remember much after that…eh, Udo and Khalil told me that I became unconscious...”

“Yeah, from the loss of blood!” Hank interjected.

“Ja, they told me that I was given a transfusion as well; and I woke up in Hospital with a large bandage around my head and the worse head ache which I believe I have ever had,” Boris replied.

“I can imagine that! Gees, Boris, how did this happen?” Hank was barely keeping a lid on his level of worry, even though this happened in the past, and that obviously Boris had pulled through it.

“Chiang Mai has a very nice Hospital,” Boris said.

“Boris! Tell me what happened!” Hank exclaimed.

“This happened in Bangkok...” Boris started to say and could feel Hank’s body tense again.

“Oh, great! And we’re going back there?!” Hank said with frustration.

“Please, my love, do not worry,” Boris said as he sat up and turned in the water to face Hank somewhat; Boris held Hank’s face with his wet hands and looked calmly into Hank’s eyes, “Things are much different, much better there now,” Boris leaned in and kissed Hank gently and then continued, “There were many government protests back then, some civilians and military personnel were killed and many more on both sides were injured. I was there finalizing the legal and business formalities for our college. We were in the business district late that evening when the protests broke out. I learned later that there was automatic gunfire, grenades, and fire bombs used by an opposition faction of the army and the regular army returned fire. We were leaving the building when I was struck...which is probably why Khalil always wants us to not use the front door of any building now. In any case, there were many people in red shirts fighting people in yellow shirts. The red shirts were protesting the government and the yellow shirts were in favor of the government. Khalil’s quick thinking got us out just in time because the protesters held the business district hostage and shut it down for several weeks after just that night. There were also numerous grenade and bomb attacks against government offices and the homes of government officials.”

“Oh, crap, Boris! I can’t believe this! You have had more than a lifetime of experiences, gees!” Hank said with wonderment.

Boris’ eyebrows knitted together, “Ja, sometimes I have that realization myself.”

“I just don’t know what to say right now...” Hand said as he reached over, grabbed his glass and downed the last of the port in one swallow, “Do any other scars on your body have stories attached to them?” Hank placed his glass back on the ledge next to Boris’ and was innocent in not knowing what he just started.

“Well, this one over here,” Boris stood up somewhat and pointed to a long, yet faded scar along his lower left ribs, “Was when I first learned how to fence with a sabre and...” Then Boris sat back down.

Hank put his forehead forcefully down on Boris’ shoulder for a moment in exasperation, “I always wondered what that one was from and was afraid to ask...”

“This one...” Boris lifted his long leg partially out of the water to show Hank the outer side of his left knee, “Was when I was hiking in a forest in Dresden during my youth, I fell into a pit of some sort and came across some very old, very rusty, World War II barbed wire and...”

“Okay, okay, you can stop for now! Gees!” Hank said pleadingly.

“There is only one more, I think...” Boris said simply, lowered his left leg and lifted his other leg and pointed to the middle of his right foot, “And this one was when we were rebuilding the shipyard in Gibraltar; I was walking along the dock and a portion of it gave way - it was quite decrepit - and a metal shard went through some very beautiful Italian leather dress shoes and impaled my foot, but miraculously kept me from falling into the drink!”

“Stop, please!” Hank exclaimed with a nervous laugh.

Boris continued as if he was a boy simply recalling something that happened on a playground, “The shard went in between all of the bones and tendons and completely, and luckily, missed anything important, except my shoes, and...” 

Hank took his wet fingers and put them on Boris’ lips to silence him, “Okay, okay, stop it, I get it! You don’t realize what my mind - the mind of a doctor - visualizes when you tell me this kind of stuff! And this is on top of the fact that you are my husband and I love you and I worry about you!”

Boris chuckled and moved to embrace Hank fully as they now stood up in the water; Boris looked down at Hank with a fond expression, moved his hands the back of Hank’s head and kissed him passionately.

Soon, thereafter, there was a good deal of caressing, and kissing and other forms of intimate and intense affection which involved the plunge pool, between the pool and the bed, and lastly in the bed. 

 

Later, Hank tried to catch his breath and said, “We may have to...um, delay our...departure tomorrow...I, uh, need some extra sleep...Boris...I’m totally worn out...Boris?”

Boris didn’t reply; he was already fast asleep belly down on the bed, with the left side of his face pressed into the pillow, his silver mane a wild mess, and Hank would have sworn that there was a slight smile on that chiseled, handsome face.

 

~~~

 

Hank did a much better job of handling the stress of the drive back to the airport, mainly because he kept his eyes closed. He knew he was being ridiculous, but Hank just couldn’t stand it; he knew that his inquisitive mind would watch everything, and his active imagination would be filling in blanks that he didn’t need filled in. Hank told everyone that he was tired and pretended to sleep.

They had a relatively quick four-hour flight from New Delhi to the Don Meuang International Airport in Bangkok. Three white Mercedes Benz AMG GLE 43 SUV’s vehicles were leased for this trip and the drive to the Peninsula Bangkok Hotel took about an hour – traffic was heavy, and the city was bustling with activity and because of that, the overall sound could be overwhelming if you allowed it to get to you. Boris warned Hank, with great detail, of this ahead of time.

The Peninsula Bangkok was one of the highest rated hotels in the world and was on the bank of the Chao Phraya River with views of the Wat Suwan Temple, the Assumption Cathedral, the French Embassy, the Institute of Islamic Art, and a Buddhist Temple that was shaped like a boat.

The husbands were booked into the Peninsula Suite on the 34th floor and the rest of entourage, except Udo, had three Grand Deluxe Suites nearby on the same floor. Udo stayed in the Butler’s Suite which was inside Boris’ and Hank’s Peninsula Suite. Each room had a view of the spectacular Bangkok skyline and the river; the rooms were sumptuously appointed in rich furnishings of Thai fabrics, Oriental rugs, and ceramics.

After Boris and Hank got settled and unpacked, Hank asked, as he stood looking out of one of the many windows which made up one entire side of the Suite, “Could we just take a day and rest in this room? I could sit here and look out the window for hours...wow!”

“Surely, Hank, that was part of the original plan even though we were supposed to be here three days ago,” Boris said as he walked to where Hank was and embraced him from behind, “A magnificent view indeed,” Boris mused, and he buried his nose in Hank’s hair.  
 


	32. Rebound, Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people ‘hit the wall’ and need a little help; enter Boris and Hank.

On their second full day in Bangkok, over breakfast at the Peninsula’s River Cafe and Terrace, Hank asked, “Is today the day we’re going to go to the college?”

Boris replied, “Ja, to start, we shall have tea there with Headmistress Khun Mae this afternoon; she has been at the helm of Opportunity Women’s College since its inception and has done an exemplary job. Her name means, ‘Honorable Mother’.”

Hank said, “Nice. You know, Boris, I think it is just fantastic that you started this college; I mean, to have an institution which takes in women shunned by society, who want to completely change their lives, and provide them with clothing, food, housing on campus, education degrees, career path counseling, and to set them up where ever they want to start their new life in the world with no need to pay it back; AND with only a request to pay it forward in kindness whenever they can...gees, that’s amazing.”

Boris looked down humbly at his plate and smiled slightly, “All that matters is, truly, that as of today we have assisted a bit over one thousand women.”

Hank looked at Boris with a serious expression and asked gently, “I’ve not asked this question, yet; um, but why did you start this college?”

Boris sighed and looked at Hank with a sad expression, “I saw a need that should have been fulfilled and because there was no one else to help, I simply stepped in.”

Hank touched Boris’ arm, leaned into him closer, and said gently, “Please tell me what happened, Boris; I have a feeling that something happened, maybe something bad. I’m your husband; if there is a painful burden, a painful memory, let me help you carry it. Please?”

Boris sighed again but deeper, nodded, and stared at a nearby potted tree. Hank could tell that Boris was recalling something in his mind and hoped, beyond all hope, that Boris would share it with him. Hank watched Boris’ expression change – however imperceptible that would have been to anyone else. Udo saw this exchange from across the room and waited for a moment; Hank looked at Udo and shook his head once; Udo nodded.

Boris looked back at Hank and said quietly, “Ah, well, you should know about this, ja,” Boris tried to smile and only one side of his lips raised up, “I was here in Bangkok on holiday, that would be...eh...eight years and two weeks ago. I was much more reckless, er, I mean, outgoing back then. I would go out into public more often, into shops and marketplaces and the like, many places with many people; I went wherever I felt I wanted to go. I would drag Udo and Khalil and his team around wherever I went, also. Sometimes we went into, what do the British say? Ah, we would go visit very dodgy locations simply because I was curious and wanted to learn about the local people’s culture. Most of my excursions went without any issues...most of them.”

 

Udo watched his Master as he talked to Dr. Hank and because Udo could read lips, he knew what the two men were saying and knew that they certainly needed privacy. Udo’s talent in this had proven to be very helpful and a comfort to his Master over the years and had become inadvertently helpful to Udo as it helped him to anticipate his Master’s needs in an instant. In many cases, during business meetings or important situations, Udo was there for Boris and attending to him before Boris even verbally requested anything because Udo had ‘seen’ where the conversation was going from afar. Udo’s seemingly mind-reading attentiveness had unnerved many people, and this often gave Boris the upper hand.

Udo knew that both of his Masters needed privacy, and so when he saw one of the restaurant servers begin to go in Boris’ and Hank’s direction to check on them, Udo was able to stop the server from interrupting their conversation. Udo politely asked the server to wait a short while and that, when it was proper, Udo would seek out the server when he knew the time for service was needed.

 

Hank said, “Okay, please, Boris, go on.”

Boris continued, “We were in a marketplace, it was quite a loud, fetid, and busy place. Every manner of...object...was for sale in this market...eh, every manner of situation, I should say,” Boris paused for a moment; his eyes appeared to become a dark silver grey and his jaw became set.

Hank gripped Boris’ arm more firmly and said firmly, “What happened, Boris?” Hank knew that Boris needed to get this out or it might drag him down.

Boris blinked and looked at Hank directly, “There were...women...for sale at that market, Hank. They were being sold as a type of...slave. It was beyond contemptable. There were four of them and they were emaciated, filthy, and barely clothed...there was absolutely nothing I could do at that moment to help them, you see, because there was a local policeman there, in the middle of a transaction to purchase one of the women; I could not risk causing a public incident,” Boris paused a moment, took a slow sip of his pineapple juice, placed his glass slowly back down on the table and watched the glass as he did so; he then continued, “One of the women, who was on the end of the, I suppose, display, was swaying and as she began fall, I pushed my way through the crowd to catch her and prevent her from hitting the ground; Udo and the team followed close to me to try and protect me. I caught the woman in my arms and crouched to the ground to hold her safe. She was mere skin and bones, Hank, she weighed less than nothing. I looked down at her in my arms and smiled to try and give her comfort. She asked me what my name was, in polite English no less and I told her. I asked her what her name was, and she said... Xokās̄. She smiled at me and thanked me for smiling at her with what she called “my beautiful smile”...and then...Hank...she died in my arms.”

Boris was quiet for a moment and looked away. He closed his eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of his nose and then continued, “Well, to make a long story short, as they say, her so-called...owner...then accused me of trying to steal his property and to silence the demonic cur, I paid him twice his asking price and carried her away. I took her body to Hospital in order to find out how I could provide for Xokās̄’ burial. Because she was a shunned and low-class member of society, I had to bury her in essentially a pauper’s graveyard; they would not even allow me to cremate her with proper religious rites. Cremations are most favored in this country. One person even told me that I could simply throw her body into the river for all they cared. Throughout all of this, I decided to do something that could help more women like Xokās̄ to permanently climb out of their situations; and so, although it took me a year of concentrated effort, I was able to purchase and have refurbished appropriate buildings and the grounds surrounding them, get the proper permits to establish an accredited college, locate and hire the Headmistress, faculty, staff, security, and put into place everything needed that created the school and campus. And, after negotiations with seemingly every government official, I was also able to exhume Xokās̄ and have her cremated with all the correct rituals, and then properly re-interred on the school property...you will see her monument, it is quite lovely. I gave the school the name it has, her name, Hank, because Xokās̄ means ‘opportunity’ in the Thai language; and this is what the college provides: opportunity, for those who need it most.”

Hank inhaled deeply because he realized that he had been holding his breath. He looked at Boris, who had started to gaze at the tree again, deep in thought.

Boris said, “You can let go of my arm now, Hank, I cannot quite feel my hand at the moment; have I ever told you that you have quite a firm grip?”

Hank chuckled nervously and released Boris’ arm, “Gees, I’m sorry about that...this is unbelievable, I really don’t know what to say right now, Boris.”

“You need not say anything, my beloved One; thank you for allowing me to share this with you,” Boris said and finished drinking his juice. Boris’ eyes met Hank’s and he could see that Hank had begun to realize something.

“You’re welcome...hey, wait a minute,” Hank did some calendar math in his head and his eyes widened, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but this terrible thing happened eight years ago around...my...birthday and seven years ago is when the school opened, uh, on my birthday?”

“Ja,” Boris said as he looked at Hank and nodded slightly.

“You said that specific dates can be powerful,” Hank offered.

Boris nodded his head again, “You and I did not know each other seven years ago; so, this is most likely serendipity with a touch of good karma, or so I would like to believe.”

“You said that something was planned and then you had to move it because your arm was still healing...” Hank trailed off.

Boris stretched his neck a bit and smoothed his circle beard and said with a slight smile, “Honorable Mother and I had planned both an anniversary celebration and your birthday celebration to occur on your birth date since the two coincided. Since I was not well enough to travel, I instructed her to go on with the anniversary celebration and that we would host your birthday celebration whenever we arrived and whenever it would next be most auspicious. Tomorrow, Hank will be your birthday celebration at Opportunity; it is the second best day for this happen.”

Hank looked over at Udo briefly, nodded his head and then smiled at Boris and said, “This is all just too amazing,” and he took a final sip of his tea.

Udo came over to their table with their server, who bowed and smiled, and she politely asked if there was anything that the gentlemen had need of; the two men responded that all was well and that they were finished with their meal. The server bowed and stepped aside to wait so that she could clear the table. Udo said, “What may I do to assist you, Sirs?”

“Nothing for me, thanks, Udo,” Hank said as he wiped his lips with the napkin, placed it on the table, and stood up.

Boris had finished his meal even before he told Hank of his experience, and of course, left half of it on his plate, and stood up as well, “I should like to return to our room for a few hours until we need to leave to meet with Honorable Mother; am I needed anywhere?”

“No, Sir, all is well,” Udo said as he made the hand signal and Efraim, Anthony, and Jacob came over to form the men’s escort.

Hank looked up at Boris and saw that he looked tired, “Come on, Boris, let’s go and relax a little bit.”

 

As they entered their Suite, Boris said, “I shall lie down for a while, Hank, if that is all right with you. I am quite weary.”

Hank said, “That sounds like a good idea...”

“You are more than welcome to join me, if you desire; I merely should like to rest for a short bit,” Boris said as he walked into the bedroom.

“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to bother you,” Hank said with a worried tone of voice as he followed Boris into the bedroom.

Boris removed his jacket, folded it and laid it over the back of a chair; he loosened his tie and unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt, folded up his sleeves, removed and placed his shoes under the chair and turned to step towards the bed and said quietly, “Ja, that is all right, you never bother me, Hank.”

As Boris stretched out on the bed on top of the decorative coverings, he laced his fingers together and placed them behind his head, he looked up at Hank with a calm but sad face.

Hank did the same with his jacket and shoes (he didn’t wear a tie that morning) and he asked, “How do you feel inside? I mean, do you feel unsettled in any way?” Hank walked around the bed, climbed on, stretched out next to Boris, and propped himself up on his right elbow to look down at Boris.

Boris smiled slightly, and his expression changed to one of fondness, “Is my doctor concerned for me?”

With a slightly smug expression and a clever smile, Hank replied, “Of course, your doctor is concerned for you; whenever you share...heavy...things, you deplete yourself. But when you keep them inside, you damage your health. So, I just want to make sure that you are not going from bad to worse.”

“I assure you, Dr. Hank, I am well; I will say that the sharing is exhausting and to simply lie here is soothing to me. Having tea with Honorable Mother this afternoon will be very pleasant – if not amusing, you will enjoy her company as she is quite energetic and direct. I am eager to show you our wonderful college, my beloved One; and I am certain we shall be able to meet some of the students and faculty today as well,” Boris said as he gazed up at the ceiling.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but can we pay our respects to Xokās̄?” Hank asked gently.

Boris turned his head and looked at Hank with fondness, “Oh, ja, of course, we cannot miss to do that. I am also eager for your birthday celebration tomorrow. It will start in the late afternoon and run to very late in the evening, with a dinner feast and some other splendid activities.”

“I have to admit that I now get why you were so upset over us not being here exactly when you wanted us to be here; I know that you understood my reasons and I am really happy that you took the time to heal. You could have just told me more details about the situation; but, then again, I still wouldn’t have let us travel until you were completely well,” Hank said, “If I didn’t put my foot down, you would have probably just gone off and did whatever you wanted to do in spite of any health issues, right?”

“Oh, ja, I have always done that. I have always forced my body to catch up to what my mind wanted to do; you know this...er...whether I was completely successful at that is another topic for discussion. Upon becoming the pampered, decisive, intolerant creature that I am, I have always done whatever it was that I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it. You...my love, are the only person in the entire world who can make me do things that I do not want to do...up to, and including, to wait for my body to heal. Why do you think I get so testy, when I do not get my way?” Boris said with a straightforward tone of voice.

“Yeah, you’re adorable and infuriating all at the same time,” Hank said with a smile.

“Ja, and YOU married me,” Boris said as he smiled back at Hank.

 

“Welcome back to Opportunity, Venerable Provider, it is most excellent to see you once again!” Headmistress Khun Mae said happily, and she bowed formally to Boris with her hands at prayer position at her heart. Her bright red lacquered nails glittered in the sunlight. She had met them and the entourage at the main entrance doorway of the college. 

 

Opportunity Women’s College was set on a large amount of acreage bordered by the Somdat Chaya Phraya 3 Alley system on three sides and the Chaya Phraya River on the fourth side. The complex was across the main alley from Princess Mother Memorial Park. There were five buildings which were now the Main School, the Dormitory, the Medical Center, the Temple, the Functional (the maintenance and security base), and the Joy House (where all cooking, eating, meetings, celebrations, arts and crafts, activities, and relaxation were done). At one time, those buildings had been an embassy, a postal office, a brothel, and two abandoned buildings all of which had either been completely demolished or remodeled to fit the needs of the college.

The complex was surrounded by a ten-foot tall, black wrought iron fence which at first glance looked elegant, but when one looked at the tops of the vertical posts, sharpened arrowhead-shaped steel finials sat upon each one and presented an impression of serious security. A thick, flowering shrub grew at the base of the entire length of the fence – even the fence that bordered the river; the shrub looked very nice, but the flowers deceptively hid two-inch long spikes that discriminated against no one. Security was a high priority at Opportunity – it was, after all, in Bangkok, which had seen its fair share of troubles and because of the situations of the women who entered Opportunity, Boris had always felt it was absolutely necessary to provide the utmost aspect of safety for them. 

Case in point, there had been times when former ‘owners’ had attempted to retrieve their so-called ‘property’ from the college; those antagonists were dealt with swiftly and in not too kindly of a matter. The local police turned a blind eye to this and believed that if the college security took care of those types of problems themselves, and in the manner they saw fitting, then that was less for the local police to deal with...that type of thing happened frequently in Bangkok. All of the buildings, and the carefully manicured grounds, were monitored by surveillance cameras, and both entrances (main and service) had armed guard posts manned 24 hours a day by two guards each on rotating shifts. To Hank, the guards looked like Asian versions of the Austria security team - which was essentially what they were; Boris and Khalil had hired a team of Austria security to train Opportunity College’s security team. 

The parking lot was small and just inside the main entrance gate; the entourage parked there, and Jacob stayed with the cars. Efraim had stayed with Captain Frank and Co-Pilot Catherine back at the hotel that afternoon. Udo, Khalil, Anthony, and Jon Michel shadowed the men at the standard distances. 

Boris and Hank walked along a long, smooth stone pathway from the parking lot that led them to the Main School building and they passed a three-foot high, cream white, polished marble sculpture which was set on top of a two-foot tall, dark grey rectangular block of polished granite and that was aside a small bubbling, bowl-shaped fountain which was surrounded by small purple flowers. It was set in such a way that one could easily pause for a moment to admire the setting and pay respects if one knew that Xokās̄’ ashes were in a bronze urn set deep inside the entire sculpture; there was even an ornately carved, marble bench set off to one side to sit upon. Large drooping trees surrounded the area, but not so much as to shade the sculpture – the marble glowed in the sunlight – and the trees created a feeling of an open outdoor room. The sculpture was of a lotus flower with pedals opened to the sky. On the granite, words were carved in both Thai and in English and they said simply read: “Here is Opportunity rising up from the mud and growing into the sunlight.”

They stopped in front of the monument and Boris held out his open palm to Udo, who produced from his excursion satchel a small straw box and gave it to Boris. Hank watched as Boris opened the box and withdrew from it a small circular strand of fresh red flowers. He handed the box back to Udo, admired the strand as it draped from his long fingers, and said, “Thank you, Udo, these are very nice.” 

Udo nodded and smiled slightly.

Boris then looked at Hank and said with a small grin, “I always bring Xokās̄ flowers for her hair,” And he placed the strand on top of the center of the lotus sculpture. He crouched down and placed a kiss on his right pointer and index fingers and then touched Xokās̄’ name on the granite with those fingers, and said, “Be happy and safe, Xokās̄.”

Boris stood up and smiled at Hank; Hank saw calmness on Boris’ face and that his eyes were a bright grey/blue.

Hank smiled at Boris and touched one of the lotus pedals with his right hand, “Be well, Xokās̄.”

They both nodded and continued to walk along the stone pathway.

Hank asked, “Did you commission the monument? It’s really very beautiful.”

“Ja, I did. The sculptor wept when I asked him to carve those words that I chose...I had told him the story of what happened to Xokās̄, and what my plans were for her and the college so that he could feel the situation and have it inspire him to properly express it in the carving; he did a magnificent and detailed work of art,” Boris said simply as he looked around them. 

Hank looked up at Boris and idly wondered just how many monuments Boris had commissioned over the years, first Dima’s and then Xokās̄’. Hank’s mind went further into that train of thought and it involved the two of them passing away and that was unpleasant, so he shook his head to try and dispel the image of what their monument would look like and where it would be located.

Boris saw Hank shake his head and the dark expression that momentarily crossed his handsome face and asked quietly, “Are you all right, my beloved One?”

Hank didn’t mean for Boris to see what he had done and sheepishly said, “Oh, uh, yeah, I just had some thoughts cross my mind and those thoughts don’t belong there right now...this place is too beautiful, and I should be thinking about that instead.”

Boris stopped walking and turned to Hank who also stopped; he searched Hank’s eyes, admired the shades of blue in them in the dappled sunlight, and tried to impart a calm feeling towards Hank. Then, almost as if Boris had read Hank’s mind, he said gently and with that smile that as all his own, “Someday...you and I will need to speak about our monument...ja? Take comfort, my love, we shall make the project as joyful as we can...eh, let us think of it as similar to when we designed the Media Room, or, the Cigar Room.”

Hank smiled at Boris, shook his head, and replied quietly, “You are so incredible, Tree, just so incredible.”

 

Madame Khun Mae was just a three years older than Boris, had jet black hair that was gathered at the back of her head in an elegant French twist, had wide almond-shaped eyes, the strength, cunning, and character of a military general, and a melodic British/Thai-accented voice all held together in a slim, five foot two inch body. She was dressed in an indigo blue, Western-style women’s business pantsuit, a red silk blouse that tied at her neck, large black pearl drop earrings with a matching bracelet, and shiny red, four-inch heels. She straightened up from her bow and looked up at Boris with a fond expression.

Boris replied in his deep voice, a slight smile, and with a bow of his head, his hands also at prayer position, “Good afternoon, Honorable Mother, I am quite pleased to see you as well; are you in good health?”

“Yes, I am, Venerable, but shouldn’t I be asking that of you?” She replied with a sly tone.

Boris smiled and said, “Well, perhaps; however, I am very well now because I have had the very best of care. May I introduce to you my husband, Dr. Hank Lawson-Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz,” And Boris looked at Hank and then back at Khun Mae.

Hank stood next to Boris and with that, Hank bowed his head and held his hands as Boris had done, smiled his most charming smile, and said, “Good afternoon, Honorable Mother, I’m very happy to meet you.”

Khun Mae bowed equally as low to Hank as she had done to Boris; she smiled back at Hank, studied his face for a moment with her dark inquisitive eyes, and replied, “It is a great honor to meet you at last, Doctor Hank. Venerable has told me much about you – all good - but he did not tell me about your stunning smile! Welcome to Opportunity Women’s College and to Bangkok! I hear this is your first time in my country.”

“Yes, Ma’am it is,” Hank said cheerfully.

“Ha! Now you will never be able to eat Thai food in America! It is much better here!” Khun Mae said with enthusiasm, “Come, let us sit and have some tea now.”

“Funny you should say that, Ma’am, because I said the same thing to Boris before we left the States!” Hank exclaimed.

They all laughed and nodded. She then asked Hank to not call her “Ma’am” because she wasn’t a hundred years old yet, and she didn’t allow Venerable to call her that either, and then reminded Hank that he was as important as Boris was. 

Khun Mae greeted Udo, Khalil, Anthony, and Jon Michel warmly and she led all of them through the doorway of the school and down the main corridor. They were quickly passed by a number of busy students and teachers on their way to classes and everyone smiled, and bowed, with hands in prayer position at their hearts in a proper welcome to Boris and Hank as well as their Headmistress. Everyone knew who the men were: the Venerable Provider and the Noble Doctor; giggles and low happy sounds and whispers were heard echoing in the wide open spaces as the students were in awe of the two men.

Khun Mae turned right and her steward opened a large carved door for them; he bowed to them as they all entered the large foyer and equally large sitting room which were in front of her office. Khalil and others stayed in the foyer and she led Boris and Hank into the sitting room; Udo followed them into the sitting room. 

Lilting recorded, traditional Thai music played softly in the background and filled both rooms pleasantly. Both the foyer and the sitting room were decorated in traditional Thai style, and there was much color and design to be seen everywhere; the scent of some floral incense teased at their noses.

“Hello, Mr. Udo, it is wonderful to see you again,” Khun Mae said pleasantly and she nodded to Udo with a smile.

“Hello, Madame Honorable Mother; you are looking as vibrant as always,” Udo said sincerely and bowed deeply; Udo stayed just inside the doorway as he waited for her butler (who happened to be a close friend of Udo’s) to arrive.

“Please gentlemen, sit and be comfortable; tea service will be arriving very shortly,” Khun Mae said and waved them to a seating area in a large alcove surrounded by windows on three sides which overlooked what appeared to be vegetable and herb raised garden beds. She sat down in one of the chairs quickly because she knew they were gentlemen and would stay standing until she sat. 

Khun Mae was grateful for this and after the men sat down she looked at them and exclaimed, “You men have it so damned easy!” With that comment, she took off her high heels and dropped them unceremoniously on the rug and next to her chair and then slipped her tiny feet into a pair of bright green embroidered flat slippers which she retrieved from underneath her chair. She had the look of unbridled joy on her face as she wiggled her toes inside of the slippers which made the slippers move slightly.

Boris and Hank looked at each other and smiled; Boris said with casual grace as he looked back at her, “You know, Khun Mae, you do not have to wear heels on our account...”

She interrupted him and replied with her usual pointed enthusiasm, “Oh yes, I do, Venerable! I told you that I can’t see you because I am so damned short, and you are so damned tall! I need the heels to at least be able to see your eyes instead of just your tie...although you do have very nice ties.”

Hank could tell that the friendship they shared was unique; and then Boris said something that Hank never thought he would hear Boris say...

“Would you like me to massage your feet?” Boris sincerely asked with an amused tone of voice. He saw the brass bowl underneath the side table next to her chair with the moist towels in it and knew she had anticipated this ‘event’.

“Of course, Venerable, it has been two years! You owe me two years of foot massage,” Khun Mae said flatly.

And then Boris got up from the chair and knelt in front of her; he slid the bowl out from under the table and wiped his hands with one towel. He removed one slipper and then the other and wiped both of her feet with the other towel and then began to massage her left foot.

Hank was smiling from ear-to-ear because this was completely unexpected, and he enjoyed what was happening right in front of him. 

Khun Mae looked over at Hank, smiled widely and said, “You looked surprised at this, Dr. Hank. Did you not know that your husband is so talented? I make him do this every time he comes to visit. I don’t want him to think that he can get away with not working,” She sighed deeply from the pleasure of Boris’ strong hands working on her aching feet.

Boris looked up from her foot and was quite amused; he said, “She says this as if my providing millions of dollars for the college is not work and requires no effort...”

Khun Mae slapped Boris on his right shoulder and scolded, “Lazy man you! Be quiet and keep rubbing!”

“Uh, I know that he is talented in many things, but not this...we’re, um, still learning about each other...” Hank said with a chuckle and a wide smile.

Boris then said, “Honorable Mother walks so much and covers so much ground here that she once broke a pedometer.”

“Yes, Venerable, but it wasn’t my idea to purchase such a large campus! My aching feet are your fault!” She replied loudly just as her butler, Niran, entered with a service cart that held their tea service.

Niran rolled the cart close to where they were seated, and he and Udo began to set the service up on a low table in front of three of them. Both assistants smiled slightly as they had seen this interaction between the Venerable and the Honorable Mother many times before, and it was quite likely the most unusual thing to occur between two people of the high social stations that they occupied...even though this ‘ritual’ occurred whenever Boris visited Khun Mae. Udo could only imagine what Dr. Hank was thinking at that moment.

Boris looked at up and over at Niran, nodded and said with a slight smile, “Hello, Niran, it is good to see you again; I hope that life is treating you kindly.”

“Yes, Venerable Lord, life is very kind to me; you are looking well, Sir,” Niran said confidently.

Udo and Niran inspected the tea set-up and nodded to each other; they went to the opposite end of the room to await any requests from their masters. They spoke quietly to each other and were pleased to be in each other’s company once again. Udo and Niran had developed a close friendship over the years and communicated regularly with each other; it was good for them to be in each other’s presence.

In this setting, Boris usually took the responsibility to pour their tea and fix their snack plates, and he began to lower Khun Mae’s foot to the carpet, when Hank said, “No, you keep doing that, Boris, you both look so happy over there, let me do this, okay?”

Boris smiled and replied, “Thank you, Hank. Khun Mae likes two sugars in her tea.”

“Will do!” Hank said enthusiastically and began to prepare the tea cups and three small plates with a variety of small dumplings and pickled vegetables on each plate.

“Are you ready for the other foot now?” Boris asked as he looked up at Khun Mae and massaged her ankle.

“Yes, Venerable, thank you so much! I really wish you would teach Niran or someone on my staff your technique, then I wouldn’t have to wait so long,” Khun Mae replied with a laugh.

Boris switched to her other foot and finished just about the time Hank finished the preparations of the tea service. Niran came over to them with two freshly moistened, lemon-scented towels; Boris cleansed her feet with one and used the other one to clean his hands. He placed all the towels in the brass bowl and Niran took the bowl away.

“Better?” Boris said as he placed her slippers gently back on her feet.

“Always,” Khun Mae said as they looked at each other and smiled; she noticed something on Boris’ expression and said, “The past year has made you different, Venerable, different, but good.”

Boris stood up and returned to his seat. He lifted his chin slightly and watched Hank serve the tea and dumplings to the two of them first and then himself, and replied, “Ja, it has been an interesting year, dear lady, a year of discovery and wonderment,” Boris smiled and looked at Hank fondly. Hank smiled at Boris as he handed him a napkin.

Khun Mae noticed this exchange as she sipped her tea. She sensed their connection and said, “Dr. Hank, you make an excellent cup of tea. I know that Venerable most likely chose you to be his spouse for many other reasons, but you should add this to the list.”

“Okay, I’ll remember that,” Hank said as he sat down and sipped on his tea. Hank smiled again at Boris and Boris returned the smile.

“Dr. Hank, tell me something...last year, springtime, I did not hear from Venerable for many, many months. Then I received a message from him apologizing for the delay. All that your husband would say was that he had fallen ill and was slowly on the mend; what happened? It was worrisome to not hear from Venerable for so long, because we usually communicate with each other weekly, or so. He will not share with me details, and I want details because I worry about him,” Khun Mae asked openly and knew that she might be breaking some sort of protocol somewhere; but she didn’t care about that and had become so worried about not hearing from Boris; she was afraid that something serious had happened to him. She remembered what happened during the protests, and how Boris had been injured, but had escaped; she, too, had barely escaped harm during that troublesome time; and she knew that Boris was involved with many worldly things...and Khun Mae knew that worldly things always seemed to involve danger.

Hank looked at Boris who looked downward for a moment before he looked up at Hank. 

Boris nodded once and then looked at her and smiled slightly, “I became very ill during that time, Khun Mae, I did tell you this; and Hank...simply rescued me from myself. I was foolish and had not allowed him to fully become my doctor and give him the opportunity to provide the proper care that I needed...and then, eh, my overall health became quite tenuous; but after some time, it became much better because of Hank. We had become friends over the years prior to this time, however, during my illness - something happened, and we discovered more about that as well...”

Hank said with a serious expression, “Boris overworked himself and, um, he was worried about some personal things and his health took a downturn very quickly; I was just there at the right time to help him back. Yeah, our friendship became...much more serious. The truth is also that Boris kind of rescued me at the same time.”

Motioning with her hands and arms, Khun Mae said, “You have both been wonderfully vague and if you both weren’t so damned handsome and excessively charming, I’d be furious with you both at this moment. I am your friend, Venerable, and you also, Dr. Hank, simply by association now. Friends share. So...” She quickly ate a dumpling, took a sip of her tea, and continued, “...from what I HAVE learned over the past year – the snippets of information that Venerable HAS told me...and from what I know of human nature and how stubborn men like you can be...your relationship at first was not as it is now, but after some agonizing length of time had passed, Fate - or the gods - finally decided that they had waited long enough for the BOTH OF YOU to get your act together and so you were thrown together by this dire situation – the illness - and everything changed, your entire relationship changed – and I would say for the better! You both now share a common lifeline of energy now; that is so obvious because you both shine with it! I am glad that you at least had the sense to bond yourselves to each other formally with matrimony! I would hate to think that the essence you share would be lost in a void somewhere – how useless that would be.”

Hank and Boris both smiled sheepishly at Khun Mae and sipped on their tea.

Khun Mae smiled and said, “Enough of my scolding, I have spoken my peace and am truly happy for you both. Always know that I am here if you ever want to spill some details! I hope you know, Dr. Hank, that you have quite a handful when it comes to dealing with Venerable here.”

Hank was about to say something, and Boris interrupted him, “Just what sort of a handful which Hank has to deal with - in me - still remains to be seen, but he is strong, clever and resourceful.”

Khun Mae laughed out loud and nodded her head, “I could tell you stories, Dr. Hank!”

Hank chuckled and smiled and said, “Oh, I wish you would!”

 

They continued to enjoy their tea for a short while longer, and chatted about Hank living at Shadow Pond, and then Khun Mae announced that it was time to tour the complex. Upon hearing the conversation take that turn, Niran brought over to her the red ankle boots which she had adopted to use whenever she went on walks as they were much more comfortable to walk in than four-inch stilettos. Boris stood up and went over to her, knelt down again and began to remove her slippers and put the boots on her feet.

“I could get used to this,” Khun Mae said happily, “You know, Dr. Hank, he is only doing this because you are here, and he wants to make a good impression.”

“I am not. I am merely being a gentleman,” Boris said with a feigned hurt sound, “I have done this sort of thing with Hank many times.”

Hank nodded his head and smiled.

“Aaah, I see, but I’ll bet that my feet are prettier than Dr. Hank’s, eh?” She replied as she wiggled her toes before they went into each boot.

“Well, yes, and he does not paint his toe nails as you do,” Boris said as he zipped up the side of the second boot. He stood up and held his hand out to her so that she could grasp it to rise from her chair.

Khun Mae still looked up at him as the boots only added two inches to her height and said, “Now, when I need to see your eyes, you have to bend down and look at me...you too, Dr. Hank! All of these damned tall European and American men!” She tugged on Boris’ tie (and he bent down to her automatically) and said, “I can’t figure out what you are thinking if I can’t see your eyes...ooh, is this a Hugo Boss?” She turned the tie over to see the label, “Very nice. Dr. Hank, come over here and let me see your tie.”

He did as he was instructed and leaned down slightly; she looked up at Hank, studied his eyes for a moment, tugged on his tie and looked at the label and said, “Very nice, also, Brooks Brothers. Good taste. Come!”

Boris quipped, “Remember to always wear a tie in Honorable Mother’s presence, Hank, because it you do not bend down to look at her quick enough, she will grab something of yours; the tie gives her something...more appropriate to yank on.”

Khun Mae slapped Boris on the right forearm.

All of them left the sitting room led by Khun Mae and as they entered the foyer, she saw Khalil, Anthony, and Jon Michel and asked, “Are you men hungry? Niran! If they are hungry, please feed them. Khalil, I should like to thank you again for the surveillance camera manufacturer recommendation. The new system works perfectly!”

Khalil put his hand on his heart and bowed his head in gratitude. He would be visiting with the security team there that afternoon and consult with them on any further issues.

After Boris nodded to Khalil, the steward escorted Khalil and the team to the Joy House for a meal. Khun Mae, Boris, and Hank, followed by Udo and Niran, went on a tour of the grounds and buildings which included a walk down to the river.

Boris explained to Hank as they walked, “We were very fortunate to have been able to purchase this entire track of land and develop it fully to our needs. We did also have to pay for infrastructure improvements. Since the government owned the land and everything on it, and saw a deep pocket buyer, they charged me exorbitant pricing of what was then unused land, dilapidated structures, a den of poisonous snakes and squatters...it was a fair bit of work to get it to my vision. I saw the whole purchase process as extortion by the government and they saw it was good business.”

Khun Mae said, “Yes! There was nothing of value here except the ground and where it was located! Venerable had everything rebuilt brick by brick! Once he had the property walled in for safety - even at the river side – the construction went quickly. He paid for a damned army of workers and required them to do the work perfectly. He had the land cleared except for the big trees and was able to create self-sustaining gardens and in doing so, we re-discovered the land’s beauty.”

Boris added, “The fact that the Princess Mother Memorial Park was just across the alley over there, added to the overall look of the area and soon, other improvements were made by other property owners. The area became much more healthy. That park , Hank, had become an official park in 1997, by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in remembrance of his mother, Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother. The park has gardens and a reproduction of the royal mother's childhood home, as well as two exhibition halls which show memorabilia of the princess and the royal family and a pavilion with a whimsical statue of the princess. There is also a souvenir shop which sells items from charitable foundations and social welfare organizations to help the poor and destitute and used to be under the Princess Mother’s patronage when she was alive.”

After touring the Main School, the Farm, the Dormitory and the Medical Center – which of course was a great interest to Hank, and so they spent extra time there and talked with the doctor and the nurse. After visiting the Functional and maintenance crew, they stood on a flat stone area which had benches and magenta and orange flowers growing all around and they looked out over the busy Chao Phraya River. It was warm and sunny, but they stood in the shade of a large tree and there was a fresh breeze which came off the river. 

“There are only two things remaining for me to show off now: that is the Temple and the Joy House. Let’s go to the Temple first and make an offering,” Khun Mae said happily, as she led then down another pathway, “The Joy House is where the celebration of your birthday, Dr. Hank, will be held. You men need to come hungry because there will be SO MUCH food! Do you eat, Dr. Hank?”

“Uh, yeah, I eat,” Hank said with a confused look on his face.

“Sorry, I mean, do you eat like Venerable here? You know, only little bitty eating?” Khun Mae asked teasingly.

Hank chuckled and said, “Oh, no, Khun Mae, I’m always hungry and Boris always makes sure I have enough to eat.”

“So, why don’t you make him eat more, you’re a doctor! You should demand him to eat! Venerable here eats only one small dumpling and says, ‘I am so full now.’ That is damned silly if you ask me, a tall man like him needs more food to be able to be vital,” Khun Mae exclaimed and tried to play act Boris’ eating habit by lowering her voice.

Boris smiled and looked at Hank.

“He’s gotten a little better, I assure you,” Hank said with a chuckle.

“Well, everyone, all of you, need to come very hungry tomorrow! I am excited for your birthday celebration, Dr. Hank! We have a special Thai presentation for you,” Khun Mae said as they reached the steps of the Temple. 

She became quiet and calm and deftly removed her boots and left them on the next step up from the ground. Boris then removed his shoes and Hank followed his lead. The two men followed her into the Temple with slow steps.

 

Udo and Niran remained outside and Niran said quietly, “You and I can come here tomorrow during the festivities as I should like to make an offering of gratitude to the Dharma in honor of your friendship.”

Udo nodded and smiled and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

 

Hank had never been inside of a Buddhist temple before; it was quiet, cool and the only light came in through the three low, open sides of the building. This wooden temple was ornately decorated with Thai language symbols on every surface offering wishes of good health and good fortune, and had gold accents in many places which caught and reflected the soft light. The three of them walked across the polished wooden floor through a small low antechamber (Boris and Hank had to duck their heads) and this led into a larger room with a high vaulted ceiling. A polished and carved mahogany table was before them upon which a large brass bowl sat and it was filled with cream-colored sand; sticking out from the sand were several sticks of incense which were burning and gave off tendrils of grey fragrant smoke which drifted slowly upward and created a light haze in the vaulted ceiling. There was a vase with fresh incense sticks and a small brass box which held matches – all waiting to be used by the next devotee.

In the center of the room was a golden statue in the fashion of a seated Protection Buddha in full lotus position with its right hand raised and its palm facing outward as if to show a shield; its left hand rested on its left knee, its palm also facing outward to further signify courage and to offer protection from fear, delusion, and anger. The half-opened eyes of the statue gazed downward on all who entered the temple as the status was twelve feet tall and the slight and serene smile on its lips was comforting and compassionate.

Hank watched Boris and Khun Mae closely and followed any mannerism that they made; he did not want to embarrass himself or be disrespectful.

Boris motioned first, and then Khun Mae, put their hands together in prayer position and bowed slightly from the waist as they faced the Buddha. Then they both took an incense stick, Boris gave one to Hank, and the three of them lit each one with a single match and blew out the flames on the sticks to send the smoke into the air. They held the unlit ends between their pressed palms and raised the palms to their forehead for a moment; then they placed the unlit ends of the sticks into the sand and watched as the smoke drifted upward.

Boris smiled kindly at Hank and nodded to him and they followed Khun Mae around the table and into a space in front of the statue. Khun Mae knelt first on a red cushion, followed by Boris and then by Hank, also on red cushions, and their hands went back into prayer position.

 

…later, Hank would learn that they weren’t actually praying to the Buddha statue but that they were acknowledging the aspect of Dharma – or the law of nature - and that the statue merely represented that aspect and the teachings of compassion…

 

Hank didn’t really know what to do at this point but thought that it would be good to foster thoughts of gratitude; it was pleasant and easy for him to think about all of the things that he was grateful for and he discovered that his mental list was very long. He smiled and did this while he looked around the building, up at the statue itself and then watched Boris and Khun Mae. Boris and Khun Mae both had their eyes closed and Khun Mae moved her lips slightly, but she made no sound; Boris’ lips did not move but Hank noticed that his face had become relaxed.

After a number of minutes, Boris opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Hank, who watched him; Boris smiled kindly at Hank and then turned his head to look at Khun Mae. She had by then opened her eyes and saw the two of them as they looked and smiled at each other. She smiled at both of them and then looked back at the statue and closed her eyes again.

Boris took his hands, which were still in prayer position, to touch the top of his head, then to his forehead, then to his throat and then to his heart. He bowed slightly and stood up. Hank stood up and they walked together outside onto the steps to put their shoes back on and wait for Khun Mae.

Boris took a deep breath, looked around and then lovingly at Hank and quietly said, “I should like to thank you for your consideration of all of this.”

“This has been really amazing and very interesting; I got a chance to think about all of the things that I am grateful for. Are you really a Buddhist?” Hank replied with a smile.

“Lapsed, perhaps,” Boris replied calmly.

After a few more minutes, Khun Mae came out of the building and smiled at the two men. Boris helped Khun Mae put her boots back on and they continued to walk down the path towards Joy House.

“What do you think of our temple, Dr. Hank?” She asked in a friendly tone of voice.

“It’s really beautiful, this whole complex is wonderful; I’m very impressed at what the two of you have accomplished here,” Hank said.

“May I ask if you are a Buddhist like your husband?” Khun Mae said with respect.

“No, I am a man of science, but I do appreciate the goodness in the teachings of compassion and caring for others. As a doctor, the Hippocratic Oath is my guiding tenet and really no matter what you call it, it’s really all about caring for one another and causing no harm,” Hank said with conviction. Hank briefly thought about Boris and Tibet...

Khun Mae nodded and smiled in agreement and then said, “Very good! Now welcome to Joy House! Let’s get something to drink, I’m thirsty.”

They walked up the steps into the large white building and saw an enormous open space inside which in one corner had tables where students worked on art projects, a small stage in the center against the farthest wall and cushions for seating in front of it, an area that looked like a small living room set up in another corner, then a kitchen and joined eating area. One of the cooks walked quickly over to them with a tray of small bright green glasses which held cold tea. They each took a glass and sipped gratefully; the cook bowed deeply, smiled widely, turned, and left quickly.

At the eating area, sat Khalil, Anthony, and Jon Michel, and they were talking to several of the complex’ security guards; when they saw Boris, Hank, and Udo, they all stood up and everyone shook hands; the guards bowed in the direction of Boris, Hank, Khun Mae and left. Khalil and his team walked over to meet them and waited for instructions.

Khun Mae said proudly to all of the men, “Tomorrow during the celebration, most of the activities...and the eating...will be here. I suggest that all of you come here very hungry because we are preparing a massive feast in honor of Dr. Hank’s birthday! We will also have a Release Ceremony for Good Fortune, fireworks, music, and a dance performance. I hope you will enjoy this, Dr. Hank!”

“Wow! Yes, I am sure that I will; but you didn’t have to do all of this, you know,” Hank said as he looked at her and at Boris, “I’d be happy with just a cupcake.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Dr. Hank, YOU are very special because of many reasons and that kind of special deserves a special celebration! Besides, tomorrow is the second best auspicious day for us to be together to do this and we want to grab all of the good energy that we can,” Khun Mae said with a big smile and clenched her fists in front of her body.

After Niran escorted all of them back to the vehicles, they stood next to the center car and Boris leaned down, looked into her eyes and asked Khun Mae, “Is there any business which you and I need to discuss, Honorable Mother?”

“No, Venerable, I have taken care of all of the most current business; by the time you get back home, I will send you the monthly report as always. We are in damned good shape!” She replied with her usual enthusiasm.

“Excellent news, indeed,” Boris said with his business-smile on his lips; but then he looked at her with a serious expression, “How many now are in the graduating class this year?”

“A small but mighty class of 27, Venerable; these women are incredible! You will meet them all tomorrow,” Khun Mae paused a moment, then she and Boris locked gazes; she said in a firm voice, "Xokās̄ would be proud of them.”

Boris looked deeply into Khun Mae’s eyes and she watched him think and knew that he was remembering; she waited and held his gaze. Boris blinked and nodded his head in approval and then took a deep breath as he straightened to his full height, with his chin up.

Hank watched this entire exchange with great interest.

As he towered over Khun Mae, she quipped, “For someone who eats so little, how did you grow to be so damned tall? Never mind, don’t answer that!” She then turned to address everyone and said, “You come dressed comfortable tomorrow, no need for ties and suits!” She tugged on both Boris’ and Hank’s ties and laughed, “I will pull on something else! Everyone listen up: wear short sleeves, light clothes are good; tomorrow should be much warmer than today, but Great Father said it should not rain on our celebration!”

 

After the two men had returned to the Peninsula Bangkok and had an authentic Thai dinner at the riverfront restaurant, Thiptara, they returned to their Suite and settled in for the night.

“That dinner was fantastic, Tree!” Hank exclaimed as he hung up his shirt and trousers, “That table we had right at the water’s edge was perfect; and to see the lights of the city and the boats? Wow!”

Boris smiled widely as he was very happy at that moment, and this was because Hank was so very happy. Boris was already in his pajamas and dressing gown and seated at one of the chairs in the bedroom of the suite that had a reading lamp and a small table beside it. Boris was only half paying attention to his current reading book, ‘The Idiot’ by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – in Russian, as Hank continued to enthusiastically talk about their dinner and the beautiful setting. Boris was amused by Hank’s energy; the weather had cooled somewhat, and so it had been truly a perfect night for an outdoor dinner.

“I loved the noodles and mushrooms and that Thai coffee drink!” Hank said loudly from the bathroom.

Hank came out of the bathroom singing what appeared to be random nonsense words but in a very cheerful manner and with some degree of a tune – at least, that is what Boris thought because Hank was smiling so much and shuffled his feet on the carpet in a strange sort of dance.

Boris couldn’t understand what Hank was singing and attempted to do so; he looked up at Hank over his reading glasses which were perched on his nose, and repeated a part of Hank said, “Skoo-lde dee doo dee-lee do? Hank, what on are earth are you saying? What language is that?” Boris removed his glasses and placed them with the now closed book on the side table; he tilted his head and watched Hank with curiosity, “If you did not appear to be so happy, I might think that you very suffering from indigestion.”

Hank laughed and continued his singing and shuffling dance as he moved closer to Boris, “Ba da ba and a little bit of doo be doo! That’s funny; no, I’m fine! It’s called Scat and it’s a type of jazz singing that uses just any syllables that flow together!” Hank stopped in front of Boris and looked down at him as Boris sat serenely in the chair with his legs crossed and his hands resting calmly in his lap.

Boris smiled up at Hank and said plainly, “Since I had never witnessed you do that before...” Boris waved a hand, palm upward, in a forward circular manner in front of himself, “...I was not certain if you were all right. I am glad that Udo is not here now, he would most likely want to call the house doctor...er...for the doctor. I wonder if he can hear us from his Butler’s Room?”

Hank laughed again and said, “I thought you were the one with the super-hero hearing? Anyway, everything is just perfect right now! What a terrific day this has been, Tree,” Hank calmed himself in the next moment and searched Boris’ eyes, “How are you doing?”

“Hmmm...I am quite well. I enjoyed dinner a great deal, but not so much as to make me attempt your little silly song and dance,” Boris said as he stood up from the chair and wrapped his arms around Hank, “I suppose we could create another type of dance...”

“I’m sure of that! But, first, I’d like to go out on the terrace for a little while, is that okay with you? Crap, I didn’t put the Imperia on ice before we went to dinner!” Hank said with a worried tone.

“Ja, all right then, it should still be pleasant outside...hmmm...just a moment, Hank...” Boris said as he released him and walked to the living area and wet bar, as Hank followed him, and over to a small refrigerator. Boris crouched down, opened it and said, “Huh! Look here, my love! There is chilled sparkling wine, will that do?” He pulled out the bottle and read the label out loud, “Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noir, ah, from Cah-lee-fornee-ah...this may serve us well.”

Hank chuckled at the way Boris said: California.

“What?” Boris asked innocently as he stood up, held the bottle, and closed the refrigerator door.

“It’s just the way you say and do things that make me fall in love with you all over again; this looks great...now let’s see, where are some glasses... hahaha! We just raided the mini bar!” Hank said with amusement and he went through the cabinets, “Here we go; they’re small, but they’ll do.”

They both walked over to, and Hank opened, the slider door which led out to the small terrace and they stepped outside.

“Hmmm...such a small space, but at least we are above the noise and odor of the city, the advantage of being on the 34th floor, eh? This is, however, quite a nice view.” Boris asked as he looked outward with his chin up and his back straight, his right hand lightly resting the railing.

Hank watched his husband with fondness and enjoyed how the light cooling breeze fluttered his silver hair; the lights from the Suite illuminated the terrace with a soft glow. Hank thought about the day at Opportunity and of the friendship that Boris had with Khun Mae and, of course, their foot massage ritual.

Boris turned and looked at Hank and saw his expression, smiled back at Hank, held up the bottle with the other hand, and said, “Thirsty?”

“Mostly for you, but that’s a good start,” Hank said with tease to his voice as he pointed to the wine bottle. Hank enjoyed how Boris held the bottle by its base in his elegant hand.

They sat down; Boris popped the cork on the Blanc de Noir, poured their glasses and set the bottle down on the table. As they each picked up their glass, Hank said, “To foot massages.”

Boris chuckled loudly and the sound the glasses made when they touched was a soft tone.

They each took a long sip and simultaneously: Hank said, “Not too bad,” and Boris said, “Quite acceptable.”

 

The slightly saltier food that they had eaten at dinner actually did make them thirsty without them realizing it and before long, they were halfway through their third glass each and discovered they had emptied the bottle...and were obviously feeling no pain.

Boris closed his eyes for a moment and his head moved slightly without the rest of him and he grunted.

Hank asked, “What you say caveman?”

Boris chuckled slightly and said, “I should need to go indoors now, because the terrace is falling down.”

Hank looked at the floor beneath their feet and said, “No, it’s not.”

Boris said, “I mean I am ready to falling, er, fall down...what is in this wine?” And he opened his eyes and stared at the last of the bubbles in the half-filled glass. He grunted again and turned to look at Hank.

Hank asked, “Did watching the bubbles make you dizzy?”

“Ja, the terrace is falling down, and the bubbles are falling up...that is too much to happen all at once for me,” Boris replied.

Now Hank chuckled and said, “I’m going to blame the altitude; aren’t we like forty thousand feet up, or something?”

“No, do not be silly, Hank, 34 floors is something a bit over...er, 376 feet,” Boris said flatly as he did some sloppy math in his head, “We are not even a mile up into the sky.”

“A mile up in the sky, huh?” Hank mused and wore a sly grin.

“What are you thinking? No, do not tell me right now,” Boris asked and put his half-filled glass on the table, “I am serious, and I shall need to go inside immediately. Can you put your mischief away and help me in?”

“Sure, come on...” Hank said as he stood up but not too steadily.

Boris stood up as well and grasped onto any surface he could touch and did everything he could to not look out over the terrace half-wall. He took two tentative steps and put his arm around Hank’s shoulders; Hank wrapped his left arm around Boris’ torso and they walked into the Suite together.

Boris slid the door closed with firm push of his other hand and as they continued to walk to the bedroom, he said, “You feel warm; that feels nice to me.”

Hank asked, “Did you get cold out there?” Dr. Hank was just under the surface of the mild sparkling wine fog in Hank’s head.

“Perhaps a bit; you will be able to do something about that, ja?” Boris asked with a teasing sound, tried to suppress a shiver and failed.

“Well, duh, mister; of course, I can,” Hank said slowly.

They were in the bedroom now and helped each other out of their robes; Hank sat on the bed as Boris knelt on the floor in front of him and removed Hank’s slippers from his feet; he lightly massaged Hank’s feet.

Boris looked up at Hank and said, “You can see that I take care of your feet also, ja?”

Hank leaned down and looked at Boris and held his face with both hands and his expression turned serious and very sincere, “You always take care of me, Boris; you take care of me more than anyone has ever taken care of me. You do so much for me! What did I ever do to deserve you? I...”

On the rare occasion that the two husbands had a little too much to drink, Hank became the serious, contemplative one and Boris became playful and unencumbered.

Boris straightened his hips which brought him up closer to Hank; he reached out to hold Hank’s face and the back of his neck and as he kissed Hank with hunger, he kept rising upward to guide Hank, who moved with Boris, further onto the bed and under himself. 

Boris lowered himself onto Hank and continued to kiss him with passion; Boris took his right hand and eagerly caressed the parts of Hank’s body where Boris knew Hank would enjoy the treatment. Hank responded to this happily and held onto Boris firmly. Both men ignored the fact that they were still wearing their bedclothes.

“H-hank, since the day I met you, I have wanted to care for you and love you,” Boris said in his silky voice and his lips were at Hank’s ear; his right hand moved slowly down Hank’s chest and abdomen, “And this is not the wine speaking...what I say is the truth. You bring me absolute joy and that is something I have never had,” Boris’ hand then moved underneath the waistband of Hank’s sleep pants and he gently gripped Hank’s masculinity which had become very firm.

Hank moaned and buried his face in Boris’ neck; he gently took Boris’ earlobe in his lips and nibbled there for a moment, which prompted Boris to further press himself and his own firmness against Hank’s left hip and thigh. Hank asked, “Why...do we still have clothes on? I so want to touch your skin, all of your skin right now...”

“Undress me then,” Boris said playfully as he gripped Hank more firmly, “...you need never to wait for that...”

In a flurry of activity as bedclothes were quickly removed and covers and blankets settled down over and across their naked bodies; Boris laughed as his head rested back on the pillow and he smiled fully as he looked up at Hank with complete abandon. 

Hank said, as his brooding lightened, and he suddenly felt truly happy that Boris seemed so carefree, “Gees, you are so handsome when you don’t have the weight of the world on your shoulders! I mean to me, you are always so drop dead hot, but right now...”

Hank didn’t get to finish his sentence because Boris reached up with both hands and held Hank’s face for a moment and then pulled him down into a kiss and wrapped one his long legs around Hank’s legs, which effectively created a lot more pressing of the firm parts of their bodies against one another. 

Breaking for air, Boris said with a moan, as Hank pressed himself further against Boris and had started to shift his position for something else he had in mind, “I adore you, Hank, so much so that I could simply devour you...”

“Okay... you don’t need to wait for that!” Hank said teasingly with a smile and rolled off Boris and onto his back.

Boris turned towards Hank, buried himself under the covers and focused his attention on Hank’s lower pelvic region; and Boris did not waste any time in pleasuring his husband.

Hank’s pushed the back of his head into the pillow, smiled, and only half-watched the mound of blanket which covered Boris and that covered him as it moved; but he lost interest in that quickly because what was happening underneath the blanket made Hank’s eyes roll back slightly into his head with delight; Boris knew what Hank enjoyed and made certain that Hank received it in full.

After just a short while of this intensity, Hank exclaimed something as his pleasure took charge of him; he wasn’t sure what he said because coherent English was beyond his mind at the moment, and Boris then shifted his body and moved them both with strong and steady hands; there was another connection done with measured pushing and they both took deep ragged breaths as they matched their movements and groaned and shuddered with pleasure at the same time.

 

Minutes later, as they still lay next to one another, Boris began to move aside, but Hank reached his arm around and tried to hold Boris’ hips against him, “Please don’t move,” Hank whispered, “Stay there...a little longer...”

From where Boris’ face was at the back of Hank’s neck, Boris could barely whisper, “I did not know...if you wanted me to remain...there.”

“Please, always...remain,” Hank said quietly.

 

~~~

 

They woke the next morning wrapped in each other’s arms and the first thing that Boris asked was, “What did you mean last night, Hank, when you said, “a mile in the sky”?”

Their eyes were closed as they lounged on the bed covered in blankets, and Boris’ head was on Hank’s chest as Hank replied with a sly grin and ran his fingers through Boris’ hair, “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve never heard of the Mile High Club?”

“Ah! Ja, I have heard of that, I am not THAT foreign,” Boris chuckled a moment and said, “We are not a mile up currently...eh, do you mean in our jet?”

“Yehsss, that’s what I meant,” Hank said with a teasing sound to his voice.

“It is such a small jet, and we always have so many people around us, my beloved One. I can only imagine that they are still struggling to become accustomed to our embracing and...our public kissing, I cannot fathom how they...” Boris trailed off.

Hank chuckled and said, “Yeah, I know what you mean; I was just a little tipsy last night and that’s what I had in my head...it would be kinda fun though.”

“As long as there was no turbulence, ja,” Boris mused.

Hank laughed and turned Boris onto his back, placed his head at Boris’ neck and held him, “How do you feel right now? Are you okay? We did have a little too much to drink last night and we didn’t put our pajamas back on.”

“Ah, I am fine, in need of coffee...surely; but could we please lie here for just a short while longer?” Boris asked simply, and he closed his eyes again.

“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Hank asked again because of the tone of Boris’ voice and kissed Boris underneath his ear. To Dr. Hank, Boris felt a little warmer than usual and remembered that Boris said that he felt chilled the previous night.

“I suppose I should admit to you that I do have a minor head ache and...and that I am eager about the today’s celebration; I hope that you will enjoy it. It will be quite different than what you have experienced in America,” Boris said quietly.

“Don’t worry, Tree, I’m going to love whatever happens; I am so grateful for you and Khun Mae for organizing this event,” Hank said happily, “Hey! I think I smell coffee!”

 

After a late and leisurely breakfast served to them in their Suite, Hank got in the shower and Boris made a quick call to Khun Mae and they talked about last minute details of the celebration. Boris didn’t tell Hank that he still had the head ache, even after he had taken a pill for it, and thought it might be something more, so he located Hank’s temperature gauge inside of his medical bag and took his own temperature. He hoped that he worked the device properly, as he had not taken his own temperature before, and the readout said that he was at 99.6 degrees. Boris then took another ibuprofen and hoped it would help – and not make him sick because he didn’t wait the prescribed 12 hours between ingesting pills – or eat something, but he wasn’t about to take a chance and have anything get in the way of Hank’s birthday celebration that evening.

 

The entire entourage arrived at Opportunity College in the middle of the afternoon that day and Hank was so excited and happy that everyone could participate and enjoy the celebration. Light weight clothing was worn by everyone and the weather turned warmer just as Khun Mae said it would. Khun Mae also asked for no one to wear red as that was an inauspicious color for the day of the celebration, and if anyone had something yellow to wear, they were encouraged to do so as it was the color of the day. She explained that since Hank was born on a Monday, yellow was the most auspicious Monday color and it signified increased health, longevity and increased wealth. Even Xokās̄’ monument was draped with many yellow silk scarves and all of the flowers planted around the stones were yellow. 

The atmosphere at the college was full of enthusiasm and lively Thai-style music was being played outside by the college’s orchestra as they were stationed on the wide verandah of the main building. There were yellow streamers and flags everywhere which fluttered in the light warm breeze. Yellow flowers lined the walk-ways and bouquets were tied to posts and trees with even more yellow ribbons. After the entourage parked and exited the cars, they were cheerfully greeted by many of the students who draped long yellow silk scarves around everyone’s neck; everyone was welcomed in both English and in Siamese. 

Hank was given three scarves and Khun Mae presented him with a long strand of woven yellow chrysanthemums to denote that he was the guest of honor. Honorable Mother announced to all that the Celebration of the Noble Doctor’s Birthday had begun.

“Noble Doctor?” Hank asked Boris with a big smile.

“Ja, that is your name here now, Hank. All people of great and high importance must carry a special name. I am Venerable Provider...I think that honorific sounds rather nice alongside Noble Doctor, do you not agree?” Boris replied with openly pleased expression.

Hank looked at Boris and said, “You were right, this is so different. It’s terrific! I have never had a birthday party like this!”

Ajahn, a local Buddhist Monk, who regularly proceeded over the college’s celebrations and blessings, was there and made a special presentation, with everyone gathered at the steps to the main building. Incense from brass pots along the verandah emitted fragrant and sacred incense called Nag Champa which helped to purify and sanctify the area. Ajahn offered glad tidings to all and expressed wishes for the best fortunes to come the school, its inhabitants and guests. 

Another special ceremony involved Boris and Hank and the entourage where they were offered best wishes of health, expressions of gratitude for their care and consideration of the college and the students, faculty, and staff. 

Then Ajahn asked Noble Doctor to step forward. Hank was watching everything going on and didn’t realize he was supposed to do that; Boris leaned down slightly and whispered into Hank’s ear.

“It is your turn now to receive special blessings, Hank,” Boris said kindly and waved forward gracefully with his left hand, his palm upward and he placed his right hand on Hank’s back to gently prompt him to move forward.

“Oh! I didn’t know I was up!” Hank said with a laugh and walked towards the monk with his hands at prayer position at his heart.

Ajahn spoke loudly and presented extra special blessings of prosperity, good health, and long life upon Hank. Ground-based fireworks crackled at the end of this ceremony and there was cheering by the students. 

Next on the agenda was for everyone to walk along the pathways and down to the river, where the large iron gate was unlocked and opened by the college’s security chief. Three small bird cages and three small lidded baskets were brought to the river’s edge. While Ajahn chanted, Boris, Hank, and Khun Mae, surrounded by everyone who cheered along, each released a young Yellow Headed Turtle from its basket and they watched the turtles clamber straight to the river; then next, they each released a Grey Treebie bird from its cage and watched the birds fly into the air. Some of the students began to sing in Siamese a song about freedom. Khun Mae explained to Hank that the releasing signified a request for good fortune to come to all there. 

As they walked back to the Joy House, freshly made, chilled hibiscus tea was served to Boris, Hank, and the entourage. Khun Mae and Niran, as well as the staff and faculty, were also served.

Khun Mae said, “Venerable, Noble Doctor, you both come with me please, I have a special situation for you,” Then she turned to the entourage, happily waved her arms in the air and said, “Please be our guests and enjoy everything here!” Khun Mae then led Boris and Hank away from the group.

Boris nodded to Udo and Khalil that all was well and that they should go and enjoy themselves. After they had arrived, the campus had been sealed off and they were all safe within the grounds.

 

Niran came up to Udo, smiled and said, “Now we have some time to visit with each other. I am so happy to see you once again my friend! Please tell me how you are...” Niran and Udo then began to walk along another pathway and began to catch up with each other.

 

Khun Mae said to Boris and Hank, “It is time for you both to meet the 27 soon-to-be-graduates for this year! I am so proud of these ladies!”

Khun Mae led the two men to the Main House and they entered the large sitting room in front of her office. There stood 27 perfectly poised, impeccably dressed women. For a moment, there was silence and they all had their hands in prayer position at their hearts; Boris, Hank, and Khun Mae returned the greeting and suddenly all the women bowed as one and then knelt down on the floor to complete the ultra-formal bow in front of the three of them.

Hank heard Boris’ sharp intake of breath and looked up at Boris and saw that his jaw was set, his eyebrows knitted together, and he was frowning.

Boris took another deep breath, looked at both Hank and Khun Mae intensely, and said quietly, “Please pardon me,” And he walked quickly over to the women, bent and reached to each of them to coax and guide them to rise from the floor. 

Hank and Khun Mae looked at each other with guarded alarm and curiosity.

After Boris had gotten them all to rise and stand before him, he said in a deep voice as he looked at them all with a kind expression, “All of you are extraordinary and you have worked hard to become what you are becoming. I should like to ask each of you for a favor,” Boris paused as he looked at each woman; he held their gazes and each one nodded to him with an earnest expression, “What I ask of each of you is that you NEVER bow to anyone like that ever again. YOU are beyond kowtowing to anyone. YOU are no longer a low-class citizen; you will be a citizen of the world now and you should expect to be treated with, and expect, full and complete dignity. Will you do this?”

The women all nodded and had serious expressions on their beautiful faces. One said, “We shall do this for you, Venerable Provider, thank you.”

Boris looked at floor in an unusual display of public shyness and asked, “Please do not do this for me...please do this to honor yourself. All of you deserve this and so much more.”

All women nodded and began to smile, which helped Boris to release the tension he held, and he smiled in his own way. Khun Mae grabbed Hank’s arm and they walked towards Boris and the group and then everyone was now smiling.

Khun Mae said, “We are so proud of you!” She looked at Boris and Hank and continued, “Eight of them are going on to medical school, five will be attending law school; we have six engineers, four teachers, and four going onto a scientific and technology careers,” As Khun Mae rattled the list off, the corresponding women enthusiastically raised their hands to show that it was them.

Boris smiled fully now and said, “Magnificent. Congratulations!”

Hank finally took a deeper breath and was slowly getting over his amazement of the whole event he had just witnessed; Hank also smiled and said cheerfully, “This is...wonderful!”

Khun Mae said, “Thank you ladies, for your time; please let us all now go and enjoy the feast!”

Everyone turned and began to walk out of the room, down the hallway, and out of the main entrance door. The eight soon-to-be-medical school students gathered around Hank and began to all talk as one asking him questions about being a doctor. The other ladies followed and surrounded Hank and there was much enthusiasm and conversation.

Boris and Khun Mae walked slower and soon fell behind the group. Hank was surrounded by the ladies, two of them flanked him and held his upper arms, and he turned to look back at Boris and Khun Mae and they waved and smiled to each other.

Khun Mae wasn’t sure if she should ask Boris about what happened, so she decided to let him bring up the subject and launched into her own topic. She teased, “So, see what all of your money has done? We made a damned good celebration happen for Dr. Hank!”

As Boris strolled down the pathway and admired the grounds and teased back, “You always do a splendid job with our money, Khun Mae; we are more than pleased to provide...you know that...and yet, you always give us a hard time about spending it. You worry too much.”

“The anniversary celebration wasn’t as big as this one is; so, I saved some money and put it towards the creative arts department,” Khun Mae said and she was quite pleased with herself.

“Excellent choice,” Boris said calmly. He had gotten over his embarrassment of being kowtowed by the ladies and although he felt warm, he enjoyed the joyful atmosphere.

“Come on, let’s go eat! I’m starving!” Khun Mae wrapped her hands around Boris’ right arm at his elbow, quickened her pace a bit and Boris kept up with her as they walked to the Joy House.

 

Niran and Udo took the opportunity to leisurely walk down every pathway of the campus while they spoke with one another. 

Udo had assisted Boris in securing a new personal assistant for Khun Mae immediately after Boris had hired her to run Opportunity. At that time, Khun Mae had just lost her assistant of fourteen years to a sudden illness and was still grieving. Boris told Udo that they needed to find the “most absolute perfect” (Boris’ words) assistant for Khun Mae and because Boris felt that Udo was his “most absolute perfect” assistant, Udo’s expertise in this situation, and everything else to Boris’ mind, was priceless. Niran was the most absolute perfect choice.

Udo and Niran were truly kindred spirits and discovered that they had a great deal in common; it was only natural for a close friendship to develop and they communicated with each over the long distances as often as they could. Sometimes it was an email, sometimes a phone call, sometimes a teleconference. 

As they walked by the temple, Niran asked, “May we take a moment to make an offering here? I would like to give thanks for our friendship.”

Udo replied, “Of course, my friend, please lead the way...”


	33. Requirement, Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is needed now is help; Boris is in trouble.

After the feast, which did involve massive amounts of food just as Honorable Mother had warned, it was time to adjourn and sit at cushions which were placed on the floor in the front of the small stage in the center back of Joy House. Even though the inside of Joy House was decorated with bright colors, there was something about the stage that made it stand out even more so. A special seating area in the front row of the stage with an ornate rug and white cushions were placed for Boris, Hank, and Khun Mae to sit upon. Hank was motioned to sit in the center and higher of the three cushions and when he was settled, three dancers rushed over to spread long strands of yellow flowers around him which created a type of throne.

Hank blushed at this treatment and Boris smiled slightly with delight. 

As it had become evening and the sky had darkened, lanterns of every shape and size were lit and the light flickered along the pathways, at the corners of the buildings, under trees, and everywhere else it seemed. The air had cooled slightly, and a pleasant breeze wafted across open spaces and in through the wide and tall open windows of the Joy House.

A traditional Thai performance of live music and movement was experienced by everyone there. A Fon Ngiew, or Scarf Dance, was performed because it was an appropriate dance to be presented at a happy event; the ensemble moved across the stage with quick coordinated steps, fluid body movements, and joyful expressions. Costumes included yellow flower tiaras and very long lengths of silk in white, blue, and green. 

After the performance, Hank was surrounded by at least two dozen students who helped him to stand up and they pulled him away and over towards the art tables to show him their art work. The ladies began to ask the Noble Doctor about life in America and had many questions; they seemed to hang on every word he spoke and some of what he said seemed to spark more questions. Hank learned that some of them had planned to move to America for further schooling after they graduated from Opportunity.

Boris and Khun Mae went outside onto the verandah of Joy House and sat in hammock-style lounge chairs off to one side and in the corner. They were surrounded by candle lanterns and a ceiling fan above their heads turned and moved the air briskly; Boris was especially grateful for this as he felt quite warm by this time of the evening. A server brought them a chilled drink of mango juice and green tea. They could see inside the building because all of the windows and doors were open, and they watched Hank and his enraptured audience.

Boris wore light tan trousers and a pale green short-sleeved shirt and was quite grateful that he wasn’t wearing a suit. 

Even in the dim lantern light, Khun Mae could see the scar on Boris’ left forearm. Khun Mae placed her hand on Boris’ left arm at his wrist below the scar and traced the scar with her delicate fingers; her bright red lacquered nails glittered in the flickering lantern light. 

They looked at each other for a moment and Khun Mae asked, “This hurt a lot, didn’t it?”

“Yes, at the time, however, it does not hurt any longer,” Boris said plainly and there was a slight curl to the left side of his mouth, somewhat of a half-smile, as Boris thought fondly about Tommy, the Skateboarder.

“Dr. Hank told me what happened, the quick story of it. He had your blood on his hands and his fingers inside your arm! Damn that sounds so terrible!” Khun Mae said as she continued to move her fingers lightly along the scar and the hair on his arm. 

“I healed; Hank...healed me; but the boy and the child were unharmed, that is all that matters, truly,” Boris said gently.

Khun Mae drew her hand and fingers away, sat back in her chair and said, “I know you are humble, Venerable, but I want to say how I am honored to be your friend because you saved those children,” She then took a sip of her drink. 

Boris felt quite warm because of the now low-grade fever he had and that he was embarrassed - again. He looked back into the building and saw Hank in an animated discussion and smiled slightly. He decided to change the subject and said, “Nice touch, Khun Mae, on all of the yellow decor...you are clever to use the same color that your Thai King and his son use on their birthday celebrations.”

Khun Mae quipped, “Well, he is YOUR king, right?” 

Boris smiled and said, “Yes, Honorable Mother, oh, he certainly is.”

After a while, Khun Mae said that it was time to end the celebration with one last event. As Boris rose from his chair, he felt a wave of dizziness and held onto a verandah post as tightly as he could. He turned his head away so that Khun Mae would not see his dazed expression.

Everyone began to walk out of the Joy House to the center of the grounds and Udo and Niran escorted Hank. A few moments later, more ground-level fireworks went off and illuminated the entire courtyard in brilliant colored light arranged in patterns and loud snaps and crackles shattered the night air which drew cheers and applause from the crowd.

Hank smiled from ear-to-ear and thanked everyone and that took a little while. Khun Mae even gave Hank a fierce hug and asked if they could come and visit once more before the husbands left to go home. Hank heartily agreed.

Boris held Khun Mae’s small hands in his own and thanked her for the grand effort she put forth which had created a “perfect event”. She noticed that Boris’ hands felt warm but chalked that up to the warm weather.

Hank talked all the way back to the hotel and shared the types of interesting questions the students posed to him. Boris even chuckled somewhat at the innocence of their curiousness.

 

~~~

 

At a little after five o’clock in the morning, Boris was awakened by a pounding head ache and knew the fever has risen. He was sweating and thirsty and thought that if he could just get up and get some water... 

He turned his head and that simple act made him dizzy and he felt like he was about heave. Boris tried to breathe in deeply to calm himself and force the feeling away and he turned his head slowly back to face Hank again with his lips tight. Boris slowly curled up on his left side and saw Hank asleep on his back next to him in the low light. Boris moved his right hand and arm slowly along the bed sheet as it felt painful to move at all; his hand gently touched Hank’s upper arm and he said quietly, “Hank, my love, I am sorry to wake you...”

Hank started awake and could feel Boris’ extremely warm hand on his skin; he turned his head quickly towards Boris, “What’s wrong, Boris?” Hank pushed himself upwards and leaned on his right elbow as he looked at Boris with concern; he rubbed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair as he woke up.

Boris looked up at Hank with a weak smile and said, “I do not feel well...and...I do not enjoy waking you to tell you about it.”

In Dr. Hank mode now, Hank moved to turn the light on brighter on his side of the bed and then turned back to Boris. Hank looked down at Boris, saw his pale skin and the shine of sweat on his face and began to take Boris’ pulse, “Tell me what you feel right now.”

“My head would like to explode, I am dizzy; if I move I begin to ache more and had almost er, you know, just now,” Boris said as he looked up at Hank who was studying his face and looking at his eyes.

Hank felt Boris’ swollen glands in his neck, moved Boris to lie on his back – which made Boris moan in pain - and put his ear to Boris’ chest for a moment, “Okay, let me get my bag, hold on...” Hank got out of bed, quickly retrieved his bag, came back, and began the standard series of tests, “Yeah, you definitely have a fever, 101.9 degrees...”

“Is there a bin close by?” Boris asked quietly.

“A bin? Wait!” Hank said and quickly got a waste bin from the bathroom just in time to hold it close to Boris so that he could roll over and heave into it alongside the bed. Hank sat back down at the edge of the bed. Dr. Hank looked in the bin and saw only semi-clear stomach fluids, which wasn’t all that bad, but Hank knew this was not over, “You said that you ached when you move?” Hank asked as he guided Boris to lie back down on his back as he held him by the back of his neck and his shoulder. Hank then took Boris’ blood pressure and wondered what Boris had eaten at the party.

“Ja, my joints ache...eh...they are stiff when I move,” Boris said quietly, and the last part of the sentence was in Russian.

Hank only understood the words: I move, “What? Say what you feel in English, Boris, what do you feel when you move? Does anything deep inside of you hurt?” Hank asked as he removed the blood pressure cuff.

Boris concentrated and replied, “Stiff, er, ja, stiff...when...I...move. My stomach feels upset and my lower back is in pain, Hank, like when I fell in New York...is that my kidneys again?” Boris asked as he looked up at Hank with bleary eyes.

“Yeah, could be; tell me what you feel when I do this,” Hank said as he reached around and under Boris to run his hands along Boris’ back along the area of his kidneys.

Boris moaned aloud in pain, closed his eyes tightly, and through gritted teeth stammered in Russian, “Nyet, not so good now...”

“Okay, are you thirsty?” Hank asked and knew that Boris’ response was not a positive one even though Hank had understood those words.

Boris nodded his head.

Hank stood up and went to the wet bar to get a pitcher of water and a glass. He brought it back and set it on the night stand next to Boris, poured a glass and helped Boris to sit up slowly, as he moaned again when he moved, to drink the water, “Let’s see if the water stays down. I’d like to give you an ibuprofen, but I don’t want you to throw it back up.”

Boris closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as Hank guided him back down on the bed; Hank said, “Stay still and rest now, I’ll be right back.”

In Russian, Boris asked, “Hank, where do you go?” He opened his eyes and looked fearful.

Understanding what Boris said, Hank replied, “I’m just getting my phone, I need to research your symptoms; stay calm now,” Hank said as he grabbed his phone from his bedside table and came back around the bed to sit at Boris’ bedside. Hank typed in the symptoms he had just learned and asked, “When did you start feeling bad?”

Boris didn’t answer right away; he looked at Hank with a guilty expression and then closed his eyes again.

“Boris, tell me what I need to know,” Dr. Hank said with his you-know-the-rules voice.

“Eh, pozdno...” Boris began, but in Russian.

“Concentrate Boris, tell me in English,” Dr. Hank interrupted gently and was troubled by Boris’ fluctuating language.

“Eh, late yesterday, just a little, but I did say something just now,” Boris said quietly.

Hank sighed, and they looked at each other, “Okay, yes, you did; thank you for that,” Hank was reading his phone and did not like what he saw.

A few moments later, Udo came into their Suite and knocked once gently on their bedroom door; he was still dressed in his robe, slippers, and pajamas. Hank asked, “Come in, Udo; are you okay?”

Udo stepped into the bedroom and saw Dr. Hank as he sat on the side of the bed and he took Boris’ temperature again.

Boris said quietly in a European-accented version of a drawl, “Oh, hahl-oh, Udo.”

Udo went into distress and said, “Oh my goodness, Master, you are ill as well?!”

Hank asked warily as he looked up at Udo, “What do you mean, as well?”

Boris began to rise from the bed and asked, “Who else...”

“Boris, lay down, please,” Hank said and firmly placed his hand on Boris’ chest at his heart to push him back down.

“Well, Dr. Hank, I came to ask you if you could come and check on Khalil. I believe he has a fever and some other symptoms,” Udo said with a worried expression and was near to panic.

Hank saw this and said, “Calm down, Udo. Here, you stay with Boris and I’ll go check on Khalil,” Hank turned back to Boris and said, “I’ll be right back.”

“Please take care of Khalil, Hank, he...” Boris began to say.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry, I’ll take care of both of you; Udo will be right here with you,” Hank said as he patted Boris’ hand which was on his chest.

Hank gathered up his instruments, put on his robe over his sleeping clothes but didn’t tie it; he also didn’t bother with his slippers, and quickly left their Suite to go to Khalil. 

Udo stood near the bed and asked, “Is there something I can get for you, Master?”

Boris pointed in the general direction of the pitcher of water and his hand fell back to his chest, “Perhaps more water, pozhaluysta, er, please, Udo.”

Udo sat down next to his Master, poured a glass of water, and helped him to rise up to drink it. Udo cringed when Boris groaned because of the effort and felt the heat radiating off of his Master’s body.

As Boris let Udo guide him back down to the bed and onto his now damp pillow, Boris said in Russian, “Tell me about Khalil.”

Udo replied in Russian, “I believe he has a fever, he aches; also, his eyes are swollen.”

Boris said in Russian and closed his eyes, “Oh, good lord, our poor Khalil.”

Udo nodded and was silent but placed his hand on Boris’ which was flat across his chest at his heart.

 

Hank walked quickly over to the suite Khalil shared with Jon Michel and went to Khalil’s bedside. Dr. Hank performed the same tests and found that Khalil’s temperature was 100.8, and he was pale and sweating; Khalil too, was experiencing joint pain; Hank added to his symptoms list Khalil’s swollen red eyes and a measles-like rash on the back of his neck and shoulder. Hank asked Jon Michel to bring over some water, which Hank helped Khalil to sit up and drink.

“Khalil, do you feel nauseous, or like you want to vomit?” Dr. Hank asked.

“Only nauseous, Dr. Hank,” Khalil said.

Hank said, “Okay, please take this ibuprofen and try to drink as much water as you can. Rest here for now. I’ll be back in a little bit to take a blood draw, okay? I think that I know what this is, but I need a lab to check your blood to be sure.”

Khalil responded quietly, “Yes, Dr. Hank, I will be a good patient. Can I have something for my eyes? They hurt badly.”

After Hank resettled Khalil on the bed, he looked at Jon Michel and said, “Please get a moist cloth and keep it over his eyes...with cool water.” This was all Hank could offer as he didn’t have any eye drops in the meager stash of medications he brought with him for the trip; Hank didn’t think he was going to need eye drops.

Jon Michel went to the bathroom to get the cloth and returned quickly.

“Okay, rest now; let the ibuprofen kick in; try to sleep if you can, and I’ll be back very soon,” Hank said as he laid the cloth over Khalil’s eyes and then held Khalil’s big hand for a moment before he rose up from the bed.

Dr. Hank took Jon Michel aside and out of earshot from Khalil and said, “Make sure he has plenty of water and that the cloth stays moist. His fever is going to make the moisture evaporate quickly. He needs to stay in bed,” Hank paused a moment and then said, “Now, I need to tell you something Jon Michel, and do not let Khalil know this just yet because I don’t want him to stress out...I’ll tell him later.”

“Yes, Sir, what is wrong?” Jon Michel asked warily.

“Boris is also sick right now,” Hank said quietly.

Jon Michel took an intake of his breath, made his lips tight, and looked at Dr. Hank with intensity.

“Boris knows about Khalil and he’s worried, so Udo and I will manage that part. They have mostly similar symptoms with a couple of exceptions. I’m going to do a blood draw on both of them very soon and I’ll need to get the vials to a hospital to check my findings; so, I’m going to contact Dr. Mongkut over at Opportunity College for some guidance on this and I’ll let you know what I find out,” Hank said seriously.

“Yes, Dr. Hank, let me know what any of us can do to help,” Jon Michel said confidently.

“Of course, thanks; I’ll be back,” Hank said with a comforting smile and he held Jon Michel’s upper arm for a moment.

 

Hank walked back into their bedroom and found Udo sitting by Boris’ bedside. 

Udo stood up and said, “He vomited, Dr. Hank; what can I do to help?”

Hank looked down at Boris who had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily; the sweating had made his hair wet and he looked very pale and his skin was a little grey. He motioned for Udo to step away and wondered how far they had to be away from Boris for him not to hear them speak; they stepped out of the bedroom and he closed the door. 

“Is he sleeping?” Hank asked.

“No, just in a daze, I believe; there is very little English now,” Udo said sadly.

“Yeah, okay, well, I think that they are suffering from the same thing and I think it’s a tropical disease, but I need to take a blood draw on them and get it to a hospital lab. Do you have the phone number for Dr. Mongkut at Opportunity? I need to ask him where I can send the blood for testing.”

“Dr. Hank, I have Niran’s personal number and will call him immediately to ask for Dr. Mongkut’s help. I am certain that Dr. Mongkut will come quickly and that Honorable Mother and Niran will also want to come here themselves when they learn about this,” Udo said.

“I understand and that’s fine; I know they are going to worry; maybe their visiting might cheer Boris and Khalil a little...we could use all of the help we can get. Thanks Udo, please go call Niran now; I know it’s early in the morning, but we have to jump on this right away. Khalil doesn’t know about Boris yet; I will tell him in a little while because I wanted him to rest right now. Just so you know, I’ve given Khalil an ibuprofen because he is not vomiting and that should help a little bit with the fever, swelling and pain; but since Boris is vomiting, I’ll need to give it to him intravenously and I need to do that quickly. Ask Dr. Mongkut to bring over IV fluids and liquid ibuprofen,” Hank said.

“Yes, Dr. Hank, please pardon me...” Udo nodded with a grim expression and walked quickly to his Butler’s Suite to make the phone call.

Hank took a deep breath and looked out the window for a moment; he saw the clear morning sky start to become brighter and then re-read the symptoms tracker on his phone and shook his head. He turned and went back into their bedroom to find Boris where they had left him. Hank sat down on the side of the bed and began to take Boris’ vitals. 

Boris shuddered awake as he had fallen into a half-sleep; he opened his eyes slowly and asked in Russian, “How is Khalil?”

Hank knew that Boris was asking about Khalil when he heard the name, and said slowly, “He will be fine, I gave him an ibuprofen and he is resting now.”

Boris looked at Hank for a moment as he concentrated to translate what Hank said into English in his head, nodded slightly, knitted his eyebrows in thought and said, in English, “What is this sickness, Hank? Please speak slowly for me.”

Hank tried to smile comfortingly at his husband and replied slowly, “I think that you both have a tropical disease and you both picked it up in New Delhi because the incubation time period is appropriate. I will draw blood from both of you in a little while to send to a lab. Dr. Mongkut will be here soon to help,” Hank paused a moment as he took Boris’ temperature and kept the concern from showing on his face as he read the display, “Dr. Mongkut will bring over some supplies, because I need to give you IV fluids and ibuprofen.”

Just as Hank said this, Boris took a breath and moved to heave again into the bin. The action left him weak and his upper body slumped across Hank’s lap. Hank was shocked at the heat radiating off Boris’ body from the fever and guided him to lie back on the bed. Hank hoped that Dr. Mongkut would get there soon because Boris’ really needed the IV fluids and fever reducer – Boris’ temperature was now at 102.5. 

Hank got a washcloth from the bathroom and wet it; as he laid it over Boris’ forehead, Boris opened his eyes and looked up at Hank. 

Boris moved to weakly hold one of Hank’s hands and quietly said, in English, “I love you, Hank.”

Hank smiled at Boris with all the comfort he could muster and replied, “I love you back, Boris.”

 

Udo returned a short while later to tell Hank that Dr. Mongkut, Honorable Mother and Niran were all on their way and that they were bringing an ample amount of medical supplies. They were also bringing along two extra Opportunity security guards to help with the transport of the blood samples to the lab at the Taksin Hospital which was less than two miles away.

Over the next forty-five minutes: Hank (and Udo as well) washed up and changed clothes; Hank also refreshed the wet cloths on Boris’ forehead and Khalil’s eyes, and he took both Boris’ and Khalil’s vitals again. The ibuprofen that Khalil had taken seemed to be helping as his temperature stayed steady at 100.7; however, Boris’ temperature had risen to 102.9.

 

Soon, after worried apologies were offered and explained that Bangkok morning rush hour traffic had held them up, everyone was gathered in the living area of Boris’ and Hank’s Suite and they all spoke quietly so as not to wake Boris who had fallen into a fever-induced, yet fitful, sleep. The two doctors conferred that the illness was most likely the Chikungunya Virus which they probably picked up by an infected mosquito when they were in India, but that they would need the lab to confirm their thoughts.

Dr. Mongkut went to care for Khalil and did his blood draw, with Udo and Niran in tow. The doctors decided to give Khalil a fluids IV and liquid pain reducer as well. Hank and Khun Mae went to the bedroom and Khun Mae watched silently as Hank drew Boris’ blood and then set him up on the IV with a near-to-full strength dosage of the ibuprofen. Boris did not awaken during any of this and when Hank finished, he looked up at Khun Mae and saw a mixture of expressions on her face. She refreshed the moistened cloth on Boris’ forehead, laid her hand on Boris’ cheek for a few moments as she studied his drawn unconscious face, and then they left the room leaving the door open slightly.

“What, Khun Mae?” Hank asked gently.

“I am angry that some damned bug dared to carry this damned sickness to two of the most important people in the world to us. Is there a vaccine for this?” Khun Mae said with her usual energy, but not vocal volume.

“No, there isn’t. If it is what we think it is, it’s one of those viruses that must run its course; we can only let the pain and fever reducer work, as well as get them to take in lots of fluids because of the high fever; and in Boris’ case, the vomiting. They are both going to dehydrate quickly; they probably already are that now. The other symptoms, Khalil’s eyes and rash, and Boris’ kidneys, are, sorry to say, part of this illness and appear to be not as severe as they could be, although they are suffering badly. We can only hope that it doesn’t move into swelling of their heart muscles or their brains...when they get over this, their fatigue will be prolonged, and the joint pain could be debilitating for a while...um, and Khalil will probably bounce back quicker than Boris will.”

“Why is that? I am so glad to hear about Khalil, he is always quite a force; but, Venerable is also so strong; why should he suffer so damned much more?” Khun Mae asked.

“Khun Mae, I need to tell you that Boris just has the kind of constitution that when something hits him, it hits him hard. He and I are on constant vigilance of his blood chemistry and he has chronic issues that we have to manage daily,” Hank said and he ran his hand through his hair, “This event is going to mess up our carefully balanced efforts. He was doing so well.”

Khun Mae looked up at Hank and placed each of her hands on each of his cheeks and guided his head downward a little to look at her. She studied his eyes and said, “Venerable never told me about this, about his sensitive health. Thank you for sharing this with me. I very much care for Venerable and worry about him. Why did he not share this with me? Oh, never mind, I will scold him later. Anyway, now I want to know something else, how are you, Dr. Hank? Are you healthy? I mean, no damned illness? What about the others?”

“They are all fine, if they are not sick now, they won’t be,” Hank said with a slight smile as he looked back at her.

“Answer my question, how are YOU?” Khun Mae asked again.

“I’m fine, really, thank you,” Hank said sincerely.

“You go check on Venerable, I will make us some tea,” Khun Mae said as she walked into the small kitchen of the suite.

 

Hank walked back into their bedroom and saw Boris lying still with his eyes closed. Hank, of course, went into doctor mode and touched Boris’ hand with IV in it, the hand felt hot. Boris was asleep, and his breathing was ragged. Hank took out his stethoscope and listened to Boris’ heart and lungs; then he took Boris’ temperature and the device registered the same at 102.9. Hank put his hand on Boris’ forehead and felt the sweat on his paled skin; Hank was just about to open one of Boris’ eyes to see if it would dilate from the light when Boris stirred slightly and slowly opened his eyes.

Boris focused his eyes on Hank, smiled ever so slightly and asked in a low voice and in English, “Are you all right, my beloved One?”

Hank gave Boris a comforting smile and replied, “Yeah, I’m just fine, Tree. We’ve got some visitors and more help now; Honorable Mother is here with Dr. Mongkut, Niran and two security guards from Opportunity. I have already taken a blood draw and will send it, with Khalil’s sample, to the hospital for testing. See? Here is your blood vial.”

Boris concentrated to speak English, but every two words, something in Russian would come out, “Ja, certainly, whatever you need, my love. Thank you for asking for help...er...for us.”

Khun Mae had been standing quietly in the doorway to their bedroom since Boris had asked Hank how he felt, and she heard the terms of endearment they used with each other; she wondered why Boris spoke another language in between English and knew she would want to ask Hank about this. Khun Mae smiled slightly and knocked on the door, “Excuse me, gentlemen, does everyone want tea?”

“Ah...” Boris said and as a gentleman he automatically began to sit up, as if he was going to stand up in her presence.

Hank had turned to look at Khun Mae when she spoke and then his head whipped back, and he placed a hand on Boris’ chest to gently keep him down on the bed, “Hey, you don’t need to get up, Boris, not right now.”

Khun Mae walked further into the room and looked down at Boris; their eyes met and she was shocked at how bad Boris appeared; she could only imagine how poorly he felt. She smiled at him and said, “Venerable, you need to listen to Dr. Hank, he knows what he is talking about. We are here to help you; do not be your damned stubborn self today, okay? Dr. Hank, can he have tea?”

Hank replied, “Yes, he can have tea if he wants it...Boris, are you thirsty?”

Boris looked at both Hank and Khun Mae and smiled weakly; “I apologize, Honorable Mother, that I am not wearing a tie.”

Both Hank and Khun Mae chuckled and smiled. 

Boris’ face then took on a pained expression and he said, now in German, “Please excuse me, I am about to do something...unpleasant,” And he promptly leaned over and heaved into the bin again.

Hank and Khun Mae looked at each other briefly with tight expressions; she turned and left the bedroom. 

Boris was once again slumped across Hank’s lap and he stayed there for a few moments with his head hanging downward. Hank had his right hand on Boris’ back and his left hand was stroking Boris’ wet hair. Hank reached over and grabbed a fresh, small dry towel from the nightstand and leaned over to help Boris wipe his mouth and beard again. Boris stayed on Hank’s lap for a little while as if trying to gain enough strength from Hank to move back to lie on the bed. Boris held onto Hank’s legs with his right arm even though the IV was in the back of his right hand; his left arm was behind and holding onto Hank’s waist.

Hank then noticed that Boris had stopped holding onto him and had become limp. Hank moved the inert Boris upright and then back to lie on the bed; he guided Boris’ head onto the pillow and adjusted him so that his body was comfortable. Hank checked the IV and saw that it hadn’t dislodged from his hand; Hank arranged the bedding and increased the fluid drip by a quarter. Hank heard voices in the main living area and looked at Boris to make sure he was comfortable and then turned and left the bedroom, closing the door most of the way behind him.

The two security guards from Opportunity and Anthony were there as they received instructions from Dr. Mongkut; Hank handed Anthony the labeled vial with Boris’ blood in it and Anthony placed it in a clear plastic box next to Khalil’s labeled vial and the three of them left the Suite.

Mongkut said, “I have placed a double stat on the lab test request and we should know something within the hour.”

Hank nodded and had a serious expression that Udo watched. Hank said, “That sounds good, we really need to verify what we think this virus is. Is Khalil still awake?”

Mongkut said, “Yes, but barely, and I have given him some eye drops to help soothe the inflammation there. He is resting comfortably now; your man Jon Michel is with him.”

Hank nodded, and he looked at Udo, Niran, Khun Mae and Mongkut and said, “Boris just vomited a few moments ago and then became comatose.”

Niran suggested, “Please be seated, Sirs, and Madame, and allow Udo and I to serve your tea as you wait.”

They nodded and moved into the seating area; Udo, with his head bent in sadness, and Niran went into the kitchen area and prepared the tea service. Udo went to the phone there and called for a breakfast service to be brought up to the Suite.

 

The two doctors explained to Khun Mae the further details of the tropical disease they believed had afflicted Boris and Khalil, and they compared it to others which produced similar symptoms which is why they needed to draw blood to learn which one it actually was. There were other tropical diseases more deadly than Chikungunya Virus and they had to be certain; if it was proven to be either Typhoid Fever or Encephalitis, which the doctors believe it wasn’t, they would be rushing Boris and Khalil to the hospital immediately.

 

Udo and Niran prepared the tea service and spoke quietly to each other; Niran asked Udo, “Are you going to be all right, my friend?”

Udo replied, “I am as well as can be expected, Niran; I do worry so about my Masters. This is also the first time I have had to worry about Khalil...it feels very strange to me; I have never seen him so ill, it is disturbing.”

Niran put his arm across Udo’s shoulders and said with compassion, “We will think positive thoughts for their quick recovery; they will take in the good energy from us who care for them and they will heal.”

 

They brought the tea to the seating area, served the men and the lady, and announced that a breakfast service was on its way to the Suite. After twenty minutes, there was a knock on the door and Udo and Niran then arranged the light breakfast on a nearby sideboard. 

Hank stood up and walked over to Udo, placed his hand on Udo’s shoulder and quietly said, “We are doing all that we can right now, try to not worry so much, okay? I need you to be healthy and strong with me, Udo. Thank you for breakfast, that was really thoughtful.”

Udo nodded his head and smiled slightly at Hank, “You are welcome, Dr. Hank; it is our pleasure to assist. I will try to be strong. Niran and I will be in the Butler’s Suite if you need anything,” Udo and Niran bowed to Dr. Hank, Dr. Mongkut, and Honorable Mother and then left the room.

Hank looked over at the breakfast service and said, “You two help yourselves – hey, this looks nice; I’ll be right back...I want to check on Khalil...” Hank left the Suite to check on Khalil.

 

“Hi, Khalil, how are feeling right now?” Hank asked as he sat on the side of Khalil’s bed.

Khalil had the towel over his eyes and smiled slightly, “I hope that I will be over this soon, Dr. Hank; thank you, and I need to thank Dr. Mongkut and Honorable Mother also.”

“Yeah, there will be time for that later; you just need to rest. I’m going to check your IV right now,” Hank held Khalil’s big hand in his own; Hank could feel the extra warmth of the fever. He stood up briefly to check the bag and the drip, “How is your pain level at the moment?”

“Oh, it is tolerable, and the eye drops that Dr. Mongkut gave me at least deaden the burning in my eyes,” Khalil said.

“Good to hear, conjunctivitis can be extremely uncomfortable,” Hank sat down again and took Khalil’s hand once more, “Um, Khalil, I need to tell you something, and I know you’re going to be upset...”

“Is everyone safe?!” Khalil’s deep voice was starting to sound louder from his growing concern and he gripped Hank’s hand.

“Yes, we are all safe, but Boris is also sick with what we think is the same thing you have,” Hank said calmly.

“What?!” Khalil lifted his other hand to his eyes and removed the wet cloth and tried to look at Hank while simultaneously trying to sit up.

Hank put both of his hands on Khalil’s broad chest and pushed him firmly to lie back on the bed, “Khalil, calm down, you’ve got to rest. We’re taking good care of Boris; that is why Dr. Mongkut is here to help me with both of you.”

Khalil could only see Hank through a red haze and groaned from the sudden light that assaulted his retinas.

Hank grabbed the cloth and laid it across Khalil’s eyes again, “Stay still, please, Khalil, you can’t be stressing your eyes like that,” And after a moment, “Here, I am going to remove the cloth for a moment, keep your eyes closed; I’ll open them and put more of the eye drops in for you.”

Khalil was breathing heavily because he was upset; but he wasn’t upset at Hank or that no one else had told him about Boris, but simply that Boris was sick, “But Dr. Hank,” Khalil flinched as the eye drops went into his eyes, “The Master was doing so well, and he was healthy!”

“Yeah, Khalil, I know, I’m bummed about that, too,” Hank said plainly, and sadly, as he placed the cloth back over Khalil’s eyes, “Stuff just happens sometimes, you know?” 

Khalil swore in Arabic and then said in English, “But ‘stuff’ should not happen so much to Him!”

“I know, Khalil, I know,” Hank said with a resigned tone of voice.

They were both quiet for a few moments and Jon Michel came over to them, “Is there anything I can assist with, Dr. Hank?”

Hank said as he patted Khalil’s shoulder and stood up, “Uh, thanks, Jon Michel, just make sure this cloth stays moist and stay with Khalil and make sure he rests. Khalil, I’m going to go and check on Boris right now; please, please don’t worry about him. We’re going to know the blood work results soon and that will tell us what we need to do next with both of you. If you need anything, Khalil, send one of our guys to me and I’ll be right over.”

 

Hank walked out of the suite and down the corridor to their Suite slowly, his thoughts raced through his mind as he searched for anything else they could do ease Khalil’s and Boris’ discomforts; and he briefly allowed himself to worry without anyone seeing his expression. He walked into the living area and there was no one there – breakfast looked like it had been interrupted; he said warily, “Hello? Where is everyone?”

Khun Mae shouted from the bedroom, “Dr. Hank! Get in here now!”

Hank ran to the bedroom and saw Khun Mae, Dr. Mongkut, Udo and Niran as they tried to calm Boris and keep him on the bed. 

Boris was thrashing about and talked incoherently; Boris called out for Hank with a helpless tone to his voice. Udo said to Boris, in Russian, “Master, please calm yourself, Dr. Hank is here now!”

They stepped away from the bed slowly as Hank moved in, and they released their hold on his arms and legs as Boris started to realize that Hank was now in the room and slowed his movements of trying to escape. Hank sat down on the bedside and held Boris’ face and moved his head to get Boris to meet his eyes, “Boris! I’m here! See me? Calm down, please.”

Boris had a wild look in his eyes and inside his mind, he was completely afraid - the high fever had made him imagine that he would never see Hank ever again. 

Boris had been speaking words, not whole sentences, and in several languages that Udo tried to keep up with in case there was something they could learn from Boris to try and help him. His breathing came in deep, unfinished breaths, his chest heaved, and his muscles had tensed from the fear. The IV had been torn away from the connection at the back of his hand and the needle stuck up at an odd angle and blood was oozing from the puncture point. Dr. Mongkut retrieved the IV tube and stopped the flow of fluid; he held the tube and waited for Boris to calm so he could reseat the needle and reinsert the connector and stop the blood from flowing.

Hank then said calmly and nodded his head as a suggestion, as he continued to hold Boris’ face and his attention, “Do you see me Boris? Say yes in English, concentrate, focus on my face, think and speak to me in English.”

The fearful expression on his face and the tension in his body began to subside; he blinked several times, and said in a low voice (and in English), “Ja, Hank, I see you...now...”

Hank smiled at Boris, lowered his head back further onto the pillow, and started to caress Boris’ right temple and forehead and he pushed the wet hair from Boris’ face, “You’re going to be fine; we are all here to help you.”

“Where did you go?” Boris asked simply as if he was a lost, small boy and Hank could see that the intense fever made Boris’ eyes look glassy and unfocused and the right eyelid was only half way opened.

“I only went to check on Khalil and he will be okay soon, too,” Hank said softly and hid the concern from his expression; Hank knew that Boris was burning up and that his husband’s mental and physical capabilities were barely holding on.

“Aaah, that is good to take care of Khalil; danke, he needs help but does not ask for it...like me,” Boris said with a quiet voice.

Dr. Mongkut was able to reach in and reinsert the IV into another vein, stopped the blood flow on the damaged site with pressure, and then taped a small bandage over the wound. Everyone had backed out of the bedroom; they stayed just outside the doorway and looked into the room and listened because they didn’t know if Hank would need any of them to help. Both doctors looked at the back of Boris’ hand again where a bruise had begun to form.

“What do you see right now, Boris?” Hank asked.

“I see you only now...but there were so many people near me before, why were they here? Did I imagine that I saw Khun Mae, Dr. Mongkut and Niran? Udo was there, too...and, I saw Manju!” Boris asked in confusion.

“No, you did not imagine anything; they are all here helping us...isn’t that nice of them?” Hank asked calmly and didn’t know what or who Manju was but would save that question for another time.

“Ja, they must care for us a great deal to come so far to Shadow Pond, eh?” Boris said.

Hank worked very hard at that moment to keep his expression neutral. Everyone just outside the bedroom door looked at each other in concern, and Udo looked down at the floor in sadness.

Hank replied carefully, “Uh, no, Boris, we’re not home at Shadow Pond, we’re in Bangkok, remember? We just had my birthday celebration at Opportunity College?”

“Ah, ja, ja, ja, I remember; my mind is a little broken right now...thank you for correcting me,” Boris said, and the last part was spoken in Lhasa as he imagined that he was in training with the monks once again.

“Talk to me in English, Boris, remember, I don’t know all of your languages. I’m going to take your temperature right now, okay?” Dr. Hank said.

Boris knitted his eyebrows in concentration and replied in partially in English and partially in German, “That might be a good thing to do, er, maybe I do not feel so well...do you think I am ill?”

Hank reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the temperature gauge; after he touched Boris’ skin at his forehead, his temple, and below his ear, Hank read the display. Hank turned his head and looked directly with darkened eyes and furrowed eyebrows at Dr. Mongkut, Khun Mae, Niran, and then at Udo, and firmly said, “We need to draw a cool bath for him, his temperature has gone up.”

Khun Mae went quickly to the bathroom, stoppered the tub, turned on the water, and arranged a stack of towels; Hank detached the new IV at the connector from Boris’ hand, and with Udo’s, Niran’s, and Dr. Mongkut’s help they carried Boris from the bed into the bathroom, still in his silk pajamas, and guided him down into the water; Boris groaned loudly and grimaced from the shock of the water against his feverish skin. He fought them only a moment because he was so weak, and he couldn’t sustain his struggle. Khun Mae could only stand by and watch as she wasn’t physically strong enough to help them carry Boris; she wrung her hands in frustration.

Hank sat on the edge of the huge tub and held onto Boris under his arms with his legs from the knees down in the water so that Boris wouldn’t slip further down into the tub and drown. Boris was so weak that he couldn’t sit up or prop himself up, although when Hank asked him to try and do so, Boris mumbled something that sounded like he thought he was doing that already – at least that is what it sounded like to Udo as he listened to Boris defend himself in Russian and translated as such for everyone.

They were all in the spacious bathroom waiting for the cool water to bring down Boris’ temperature. Khun Mae quietly asked Hank, “What was his temperature just now?”

Hank replied with a serious expression as he stroked Boris’ hair at his forehead, “103.4.”

After a few long moments in the water, Boris, who had his head fully back onto Hank’s lap, looked up at Hank with half-opened, fever glazed eyes, his right eyelid still slightly lower than his left. Boris asked quietly and in English, “Do you think our monument should be a bathtub, Hank?”

Hank held his breath for a moment and then looked at everyone with a flat expression and tight lips; he sighed deeply, blinked hard, and then looked back down at Boris, stroked his hair at his temple lovingly, smiled slightly, and replied, “Let’s talk about that at another time, okay, Boris?”

“Oh-kay, H-ha-ank...” Boris replied in a slur of English and closed his eyes.

Many more minutes went by; Boris didn’t move at all and he laid there in the tub full of water, now asleep, with his head on Hank’s lap, his arms hanging over Hank’s knees, and his mouth slightly open. Dr. Mongkut had retrieved the temperature gauge from the bedroom and held it up to show Hank, who nodded. Mongkut came over and after he dried Boris’ face with a towel, he used the gauge and read the display: 102.2; he showed Hank and everyone the display and there was collective sigh of relief.

Hank whispered to everyone, “I want his temperature to go down closer to 100 before we take him out of the water and that’s going to take a little while; all of you, go and eat some breakfast, please? I’ll eat later...I just want to be here with him.”

With that, they nodded and left the bathroom and slowly walked to the living area and left Hank alone with Boris. Udo lingered in the doorway for a moment longer and looked at Hank; Niran was close and behind Udo and placed his hand on Udo’s shoulder with the hope he could lend support to his friend. They turned as one and walked to the living area to take care of the others.

Hank’s mind was a little numb and he felt tense; Boris’ language slippage was to be expected, but Hank was now also worried and stunned at how Boris had become so fearful and violent about Hank not being there and that Boris was hallucinating they were back home at Shadow Pond. Hank also hoped that none of Boris’ organs would shut down. 

About twenty long minutes went by, Boris shivered, which woke him, and he looked up at Hank who smiled down at him and said to Boris, “Hi there.”

Boris asked quietly, “What am I...er, why is... I have so many questions right now.”

“I’ll bet you do; I’ll answer them all, but first, I’m going to take your temperature right now, okay?” Hank asked.

“Ja, you have only done that once tonight,” Boris replied.

“Uh, well, no, and it’s late morning, or early afternoon now, I think,” Hank stated.

“Huh,” Boris said with knitted eyebrows.

Hank took his temperature and the gauge read 101.3; and he said to Boris as he reached over and set the instrument back on the vanity next to the tub, “Your fever is coming down slowly,” Hank took his left hand and began to stroke Boris at his temple again to try and soothe him. If one would have asked Hank, he would have readily admitted that the stroking helped to soothe Hank as well.

Boris concentrated and said in English, “Good, er, that is a good thing, ja? Hank, I am so confused at this moment; it is not...comfortable in my mind.”

“I know, I know, okay, can you understand me clearly right now? What language do you hear me speak?” Hank asked first; he thought that since Boris appeared to become more cognizant, maybe if he knew more about what was going on, he would feel better.

“Eh, ja, I can understand you in English, but please speak slowly,” Boris said slowly.

“That’s very good. Do you know where you are right now?” Hank asked slowly.

“I am in water,” Boris said plainly, and he shifted slightly in the tub which made the water move and echo in the completely tiled bathroom.

Hank chuckled, (Boris felt it through his body and grinned with an odd tilt to his lips); Hank said, “What I meant was, do you know where in the world you are?”

Boris’ linear thinking process began to kick in and he recited, as he looked around the room without moving his head, “Eh, I am next to you, in water, in my pajamas – presumably in the bathtub that is in our hotel suite, judging from the copious amounts of tile that is surrounding us, and we are in Bangkok, Thailand...am I correct?”

“Very good! That is a big improvement from just a half an hour ago,” Hank said with a smile.

“What is my prize for being correct?” Boris asked with another small and sly lopsided grin.

‘’Uh, let me think about that, but it probably will involve kissing,” Hank said with a smile as he looked into Boris’ eyes, “We’ve got a lot to take care of right now.”

“As you wish,” Boris said wearily and kept his head on Hank’s lap, “Good lord, do I ache - everywhere.”

“We’re not over this yet, Boris, your body is still fighting the virus; we just had to get your fever down quickly because you were a real mess. And, the fever could rise again so we have to watch this closely,” Hank wasn’t sure if he should tell Boris that they were going to have to stay in Bangkok for a while until both he and Khalil were more or less over this illness and strong enough to move around on their own; he decided to wait and knew that Boris would be asking about that at some point anyway.

“How is Khalil? I must go and visit him...at some point,” Boris asked quietly and shivered.

“He is resting right now; his fever hasn’t gone as high as yours. Neither of you are going anywhere just yet, but don’t worry, we’re taking good care of him, too, and when I go to check on him in a while, I’ll tell him you are thinking about him, okay?” Hank said as he gently caressed Boris’ cheek.

Boris’ eyes were closed again, and he sighed deeply, “How long must I stay in this water, Hank?”

“I want your temperature to be maybe closer to 100; I don’t want to take a chance that it will spike again. How do you feel right now?” Dr. Hank asked.

“Eh, weary and very wet, my head aches, er, I should say that I ache everywhere...and my lower back feels...very bad,” Boris said with effort.

Dr. Hank said, “Yeah, I know that your kidneys are inflamed; just try and hang on a little while longer in the water. We’ll get you out of the water, dried off and into fresh pajamas. When you’re settled back comfortably in bed, I need to reconnect the IV and start your fluids and pain reducer again.”

There was a gentle knocking on the doorframe of the bathroom; Khun Mae looked in and smiled a bit and they looked over at her and returned small smiles.

She said, “Hello, Venerable, may I come in?” And she smiled slightly at Hank.

Boris shifted slightly in the water but was too weak to do more, “Er, ja, Khun Mae, please forgive me if I do not stand.”

Khun Mae looked flatly at Hank as she entered further into the bathroom and asked, “Is he always this damned silly?”

Hank nodded, smiled, and said, “Yeah, pretty much.”

She came over, crossed her arms in front of her body and looked down at Boris; she said, “This is a different look for you, Venerable.”

“You say this because you miss seeing me in a suit and tie, that is all,” Boris replied in an attempt at humor as he looked up from the tub at her.

“How do you feel? I think pretty damned bad, because you look like crap,” Khun Mae said with her usual energy.

“Quite,” Boris replied and closed his eyes again.

Another knock on the door and Dr. Mongkut said, “Hello, may I enter? We have the results from the blood work now.”

“Yeah! Come on in Doctor, what did the lab say?” Hank asked and watched him enter.

“We were correct, Dr. Hank, they have the Chikungunya Virus and so what we are doing to manage their symptoms right now, is also correct. Unless there is a turn for the worse, we do not have to go to Hospital at this time. I have placed a stand-by order just in case. If we suspect that they have developed myocarditis and meningitis, the staff at Taksin Hospital will be ready to receive them,” Dr. Mongkut instructed.

Boris had opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to look up at Dr. Mongkut and after this announcement he looked back up at Hank with a worried expression.

Hank moved his left hand to Boris’ shoulder and patted him gently there, “I told you...we are not over this yet.”

Boris had also stiffened somewhat at the news the doctor brought and now he released the tension, but it wasn’t in relief, he was exhausted and wanted to be warm and dry and asleep now; he said quietly, “Hank, I should like to go to our bed now...please, may I go lie down there?”

Udo and Niran were standing again in the doorway and had heard the news and waited for instructions.

Khun Mae said as she turned and walked out of the bathroom, “Niran? Doctor? Let us go and visit Khalil now and give Venerable some space.”

“Can you move on your own, Boris?” Hank asked as Boris attempted to sit up and was successful, but he swayed a great deal and leaned and grasped onto to anything solid within his reach.

“Ja, maybe, if I do not slip on the tile and break a bone,” Boris said with wide eyes.

As Hank got out of the tub, dried himself off somewhat, and then began to help Boris, he said, “Don’t even joke about that.”

Hank and Udo took their time and moved slowly; they held onto Boris with firm grips and guided him up and out of the water; they matched Boris’ pace as he carefully, and with the shakes, moved to sit on the side of the tub and then on the floor and on top of many towels. The water puddled around him as it fell from his body and wet pajamas. He shivered forcefully as Hank and Udo removed his wet shirt, towel dried his upper body and then put a fresh, dry pajama shirt on him. Boris tried to sit up proudly and button his own shirt, but that required balance and strength of which he had none, so Hank buttoned the shirt for him as Boris leaned against Udo. 

They removed his soaking wet pajamas trousers and got his lower body dried and into a fresh pair of trousers which took more towels and more effort, and they had to hold him firmly because his legs were very weak. They moved him to sit on a small bench in the bathroom and finished drying his feet, hands, and face and Hank took a few moments to brush Boris’ hair. Boris smiled slightly at his husband and their assistant but did not utter a word. Hank and Udo then helped Boris to stand on trembling legs to walk, and stumble, slowly over to the bed. Boris sat down hard on the bed as he had completely run out of strength. Hank re-arranged and re-attached the IV set up and Udo settled Boris with a fresh pillow and blankets.

“May I have a glass of water?” Boris asked as he shivered again.

“Certainly, Sir!” Udo said happily because providing water for Boris was both a pleasure and a duty for him.

Before Boris took his first sip, he said, “I hope this stays inside of me as that might be a good thing.”

Udo nodded and smiled at his Master, who weakly smiled at him in return.

“Okay, now you just need to rest,” Hank said as he watched Boris drink down the entire glass of water.

Udo took the glass from Boris, filled it halfway and set it on the nightstand, next to the pitcher, bowed, and then left them to their privacy.

Hank sat at the edge of the bed and looked at Boris with a loving expression; he placed his right hand on Boris’ cheek and said, “Sleep now; I’ll be right out in the living area; call out if you need anything; and I will come and check on you often. The IV has three quarter strength ibuprofen in it now and that should help reduce the pain you are feeling,” Dr. Hank watched Boris’ eyelids begin to droop, “Are you comfortable?”

“Ja,” Boris said quietly, “Thank you, my beloved One.”

“You’re welcome; what else can I get for you right now?” Hank asked as he put his hand on Boris’ chest at his heart.

“Stay with me until I fall asleep?” Boris asked.

“Okay, you are going to get well, Boris, don’t worry about that,” Hank said sincerely.

“Oh, I hope s...” Boris didn’t finish his sentence.

Hank sat there for a few moments and watched Boris fall further into sleep. Boris was still pale but not sweating as much as before and he was also not burning to the touch – this was a good sign and one that his fever had dropped slightly more – but Hank knew they were not out of the woods just yet. Hank was tired and then realized that he hadn’t eaten at all and in fact, he didn’t know what time it was. Then in the next moment, he thought about Khalil and that he should check on him again. Hank stood up from the bed and felt that gnawing sense of hunger; he bent over and kissed Boris lightly on the forehead, checked the IV, saw that Boris was covered with the top sheet and two blankets, and then walked quietly out of the bedroom leaving the door about a third of the way open.

As Hank walked out into the living area, he was greeted by Udo who had prepared him a lunch plate, and Hank nodded wearily in thanks. A little while later, after several glasses of iced tea and a hearty yet cold lunch, Hank felt somewhat revived and went to check on Khalil.

 

Throughout the day and into the evening, both Boris and Khalil slept on and off and attempted to fight off their moderate fevers. Hank cut down the dosages of the ibuprofen because he always felt that too much of a good thing could be bad. If he saw their temperatures rise by even three-tenths, which it did, he would increase the amount for a short period of time.

Khun Mae, Niran, and Dr. Mongkut returned to Opportunity and planned to visit again the next afternoon.

Khalil was able to eat a little bit at dinner time, but he wasn’t very hungry and only did so because he thought that Dr. Hank would expect him to eat. Khalil always had a robust appetite, similar to Hank’s, but on this first day of the illness he was only able to eat some lightly seasoned noodles. Boris could only keep down some mild chicken broth and water; he made a comment to Hank that he was “...behind in his daily coffee intake...”, but Hank wouldn’t allow him to have coffee because Boris was already dehydrated and didn’t need anything even remotely like a diuretic.

Both ‘patients’ needed some sort of assistance when attending to themselves in the bathroom because they were so weak. Both ‘patients’ were embarrassed about this and Hank and Udo did their best to lessen that particular discomfort.

Udo kept watch over everyone and tended to Hank; Udo made certain that he, and everyone in the entourage, ate properly; Udo also communicated with the Peninsula’s General Manager and explained the situation stating that their Master and their Security Chief had fallen seriously ill but were slowly on the mend and that the entire entourage would most likely need to stay in situ for at least a week. The hotel was gracious and accommodating, as five-star hotels usually are, and promised to provide whatever service would be needed so that they would all have complete comfort, safety, and any needs fulfilled. Medical assistance was also proffered; fresh bouquets of flowers were delivered to both suites each with notes from the hotel’s staff of get well wishes for both men to have a speedy recovery.

Late in the evening, after in-room dinner services had been finished by the entourage and removed by the hotel staff, and as everyone settled in for the night, Hank was seated the living area and was doing more research on the virus. He wanted to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything. 

Udo came over to Hank and asked, “Is there anything that you need at the moment, Dr. Hank?”

Hank sighed, rubbed his eyes and decided that he just couldn’t look at the computer screen any longer and closed his laptop. He looked up at Udo and replied, “No, I think I’m okay right now, thanks, Udo. You should go to bed, oh gees, its eleven o’clock!”

“You should go to bed as well, Sir,” Udo suggested as he saw how weary Hank looked.

Hank stood up from the couch and said, “How about we check on Khalil and then we both call it a night?”

“An excellent idea, Dr. Hank; allow me to call Efraim to have him come and watch the Master,” Udo said with a slight smile.

After Efraim came and stationed himself just inside of their bedroom doorway, they walked over to Khalil’s suite, Hank asked, “Do we need to tell the hotel about what happened and that we’re going to need to stay here for a few more days? We can’t travel while they are sick; they can’t manage that much movement.”

“I’ve already made all of the arrangements for us, Sir,” Udo said humbly.

“You’re amazing, Udo, just amazing,” Hank said with a wide smile.

Khalil was deeply asleep; and Hank changed out the IV bag to a new one that would last through the night, as well as dialing in the pain reliever on a quarter strength with the hopes that Khalil would have a decent night’s sleep with little pain. Hank took Khalil’s temperature, he did not awaken, and it was still at 99.9 after about four hours. 

Hank and Udo made sure Khalil was comfortable under the blankets and on the pillow, and then talked for a short while with Jon Michel, Anthony, Jacob, Frank and Catherine. Everyone was well but concerned, and hopeful that the worse was over.

 

After they returned and thanked Efraim, Hank sat on the edge of the bed, and Udo stood beside him as they looked down at Boris. Hank began to take Boris’ temperature and Boris awoke with a start and it took him a moment to focus his eyes on them. The gauge read 100.5.

Boris swallowed and asked quietly, “How am I?”

Hank smiled and said, “You are stable right now with a high moderate fever.”

Boris asked, “Please tell me that you both are all right, that Khalil is also ‘stable’, and that our people are well.”

Udo and Hank replied simultaneously, “Yes.”

Udo said, “Everything is in order, Sir, we have taken care of all details and the only thing for you to do is to rest,” He looked at both men and said, “If you need anything, anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask; I shall be in my suite.”

“Thank you so much, Udo, for all of your help; sleep well okay?” Hank said as he reached up and held Udo’s forearm firmly; Udo smiled back at Hank.

Udo and Boris looked at each other and smiled; Boris said sincerely but with a low voice, “I am in your debt, once again, Udo; thank you.”

Udo bowed deeply to them, turned, and left their bedroom. As Udo walked to his Butler’s Suite; he sighed with weariness and worry and told himself that tomorrow would be better for everyone; he was eager to get into bed and get some sleep so that he could be ready for anything the next day.

Boris looked up with a tired expression on a drawn and paled face, and asked Hank, “It must be late now, ja? When will you come to bed?”

Hank sighed and smiled at Boris and said, “Yeah, it’s been a long day. Give me just a few minutes; I’ll be right back,” Hank stood up and went into the dressing room to change and then into the bathroom to wash up. When he returned to the bedroom, he was surprised to see Boris still awake and watching him, “How’s your pain level?” Hank changed the IV bag and waited to hear Boris’ response so that he could set the proper ibuprofen dosage.

“I ache, and my joints feel immobile; eh, perhaps a 9?” Boris said quietly.

“What’s your kidney area feel like?” Dr. Hank asked.

“It, they demand attention, or eh...something, I know not what,” Boris replied in his exhaustion.

“Okay, I’m going to dial this to a three quarter-strength, so you can hopefully get some sleep tonight,” Hank said as he made the adjustment and then asked, “Can I take your vital signs?”

“You look so weary, my beloved One, cannot this wait until the morning?” Boris looked up at Hank with knitted eyebrows.

“Yeah, but I want to fall asleep knowing that you’re stable,” Hank said.

“All right,” Boris slowly moved his arm, grimaced because his joints screamed in pain, and began to roll up his sleeve.

“No, no, let me do that; listen to me, Tree, every joint in your body is experiencing some type of swelling right now and by moving, you are stressing those joints,” Hank sat down on the side of the bed and did the standard series of tests while Boris watched him quietly; Hank continued, “Okay, your heart sounds a little fast, your lungs are clear though…your blood pressure is kinda low, even for you; your temperature is still a little high...”

“Hank, please, come lay down next to me. You are weary...and I am...as well as can be expected at the moment,” Boris said gently as he reached up with his left hand, and grimaced slightly, to touch Hank’s cheek, “Let us fall asleep together, ja? I promise,” Boris paused as he moved Hank’s face to look at him directly, “I will wake you if I begin to feel worse.”

“Okay, I guess I’m not much good to anyone if I’m half asleep,” Hank admitted and climbed into bed next to Boris and they settled in together with Boris’ head on Hank’s shoulder; Hank arranged the IV tube to be over the blankets and told Boris that he would wake up frequently to check on it.

Both men were very quiet for a few moments and although they may have thought about talking to each other, the comfort of being cocooned by the bed, the blankets, and the pillows, the tension of the day, and wrapped in each other’s arms forced them to fall asleep within minutes.

 

~~~

 

At four a.m., Boris stirred and knew that a trip to bath room was necessary. He felt it would be ridiculous to wake Hank simply because of this bodily need, but knew that he should and said, “Hank, I...” Just as he began to move himself to sit up and grunted from the effort. 

Hank said in a half-sleep, from where his face was buried in the pillow, “Where are you going?”

Boris replied, “To the water closet; it appears that all of this liquid that is going into me, needs to come out now.”

“This is a good thing, really; it means your kidneys are still functioning,” Hank said as he rose up and moved across the bed to assist Boris.

“Ja, I suppose, however, I feel like an invalid,” Boris said quietly as he watched Hank untangle the tubing and set the IV tower up for Boris to use as a walking aid.

“You are not an invalid, you are just sick and getting better,” Hank said as he held onto Boris with one arm around Boris’ waist and the other holding Boris’ hand that was across Hank’s shoulders.

Boris held onto the IV tower with the other hand and they both walked slowly to the bathroom. He didn’t tell Hank that having Hank’s arm around his waist was painful because Boris knew if Hank let go, Boris would fall to the floor - which was what he didn’t want to do, so, Boris decided to just ‘grin and bear it’. 

 

“I know you are my husband and a doctor, but that is still a humiliating event,” Boris said afterwards with a pout as Hank settled him back into bed.

“Look at it this way, Boris, if you were really an invalid, you’d have to use a bedpan and a catheter,” Hank said plainly as he settled himself now in bed.

“Ah...I see your point,” Boris said flatly.

“Try and fall back asleep now,” Hank said as he looked at Boris.

“I have questions,” Boris stated.

“Yeah, I know, but sleep is more important than answers right now – for you and for me. I promise, I will answer all of your questions after we get some more sleep, and breakfast, okay?” Hank suggested.

“May I have coffee with...” Boris trailed off.

“Finish your sentence,” Hank said; he had his head on Boris’ shoulder, one arm wrapped around Boris’ torso and his eyes were closed – he was ready to drift back into sleep and still felt the extra warmth from Boris’ body.

“Breakfast...provided that breakfast stays inside of me,” Boris said as he stared across their darkened bedroom.

“You have kept the water and the broth down and haven’t thrown up in about six hours; I think you are past that stage of the illness now,” Hank said slowly.

Boris sighed and didn’t say anything; he was thinking and found that he stayed perfectly still, he didn’t ache as much; he didn’t realize just how much ibuprofen was now in his bloodstream. He felt Hank’s body relax, which was alongside his own, and guessed that Hank – his dear, beloved Hank – had fallen back into sleep. Boris had questions and knew he would have to wait for the answers; he was very weary and felt the deep weakness that the illness had brought to him. 

For the next few minutes, Boris tried to breathe deeply and calm his mind. At first, snippets of images presented themselves to him and he couldn’t figure out what was real and what was imaginary. Boris began to analyze the images and then remembered that he had experienced a high fever and then supposed that almost anything could come from the ravings of someone in that state. Boris was not able to calm his mind before sleep took him; the last fever-driven thought that Boris had before he drifted off was he imagined that he alone in a dark, bare place and struggled against invisible bonds that held his arms and legs.

 

~~~


End file.
